Teen Titans: Eclipsed
by SonicHdgHog
Summary: The Titans are monitored by a new government program, with a young rookie FBI agent as their watchdog. When the true nature of the project is revealed, the Titans and the rookie agent must team up to save the Justice League from an evil terrorist plot
1. Chapter 1

TEEN TITANS

**ECLIPSED**

**A Work of Fan Fiction**

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 1 - SOLAR

1128hrs EST, Friday, 6 June  
Metropolis Government Complex

The large black doors parted revealing a long oak table flanked by five chairs at either side and one at the far end. Agent Rick Deckards' was on the left side, halfway between the door and the head of the table. Deckard had been recruited from the FBI Field Office in Gotham for this particular assignment, although at the present moment he still was not quite sure what it was. He was the youngest one in the room at only 23, meaning the majority of the agents present had been with the Bureau longer than he had been alive. He kind of felt out of his league sitting in on this meeting, but he obviously had some kind of skill that the boss thought would be useful.

The boss was Special Agent Donovan Taylor, the brainchild behind the new initiative known as the SOLAR (Superhuman Oversight Legitimization And Regulation) project. The objective of SOLAR was to prevent another Watchtower incident, like the one that had occurred in 2005, and even though that incident was attributed to Cadmus and not the Justice League, the governments of the world decided that it was better to have a safeguard in place in the event the heroes of the world ever put the globe in a similar state again.

This meeting was the culmination of nearly three years of research, done by various law enforcement agencies, security firms and even elements of the US Department of Defense. Despite some of the heroes having prior military records, like Green Lantern and Captain Atom, the entire flock was viewed as needing to be scrutinized. Over the course of the last three years the information compiled on a majority of superheroes had quintupled in volume, from knowing their alter egos and occupations to their weaknesses and pitfalls. This information, considered vital to international security, was safeguarded at FBI Headquarters in Washington D.C., with back-up files being housed at another, secret government location. Because the majority of superheroes resided within the United States of America, the United Nations deemed it necessary to have the US Government oversee and supervise the SOLAR effort.

This is the reason that the majority of agents at the meeting were from American law enforcement agencies, save for the two Interpol Agents on the far side of the table, closest to the door. Deckard watched with anticipation as Taylor looked back with a cold stare, stoic in expression and demeanor. The man was tall even though he was sitting down, a flat-top style haircut made his silver hair look like tarnished metal. His chiseled face was dark with sunken yet piercing eyes that were as blue as ocean water. His hands were clasped in front of his mouth, and as he lowered them to the table his voice resonated throughout the marble-slab room.

"You all know why you're here, so there's no need for a familiarization brief. The majority of you will, today, receive assignments on your particular person and where you need to go to find them. This is it, ladies and gentlemen, you're going to be attached to a certain hero or heroes and observe them. See how they operate in the field in real time. Local law enforcement has already been alerted to your presence in the area and will be expecting you, but just in case you have any trouble, get with Special Agent Norton at SOLAR Office Bravo and he'll take care of it. Any questions?" Asked Taylor. The booming echo of his voice resounded for just a few short seconds before the room fell completely silent. Deckard was stunned, how did he land this? His last task was compiling information on the JL and putting it into dockets that would be disseminated to some of these agents. He was not a field agent, up until SOLAR all he did at the Gotham Field Office was brew the coffee, replace the filter and occasionally fix the copying machine. He was not at all qualified to be around the likes of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman or The Flash. This was not something he had counted on.

"Good. You will find your assignments in the dockets being handed to you. Travel arrangements have already been made to your designated cities. The majority of the heroes know you will be observing them, but there are a few who do not. You can make them aware of your intentions but under _no_ circumstances are you to discuss the objectives of SOLAR or your involvement. The last thing we need is for these people to get suspicious of our intentions. Understand?" Asked Taylor, this time with a more hard line tone than he had taken previously. All the agents at the table unanimously shook their heads yes, including Deckard, who failed to notice his docket being held out to him by one of the interns until she coughed to get his attention. He looked over at her and took the docket, slightly embarrassed. He looked it over, a simple manila file folder sealed with a white paper strip labeled "TOP SECRET: SOLAR FILE 385-903" and embroidered with the seal of the SOLAR initiative. Deckard placed the file on the table as the other agents began to leave their seats and head for the door. He looked at it somewhat perplexed, still wondering how he got himself into this mess.

"I picked you," said a voice from behind him. He turned to see Taylor standing to the left, behind his chair. "I saw your reports and how well you compiled the dockets on these individuals. Excellent work, Deckard," he said. Deckard stood, pushing back the rolling chair and reaching out his hand to accept the handshake Taylor was offering.

"Thank you, sir," was all he could say. He was not really sure what to say. A man of Taylor's stature was imposing by itself, but when combined with the myriad of something as huge as SOLAR, he seemed to be even more ominous.

"You're welcome. I thought that giving you a field assignment would help forward your career a bit, give you some experience. I had to fight a bit with the brass upstairs to get you cleared for it, but eventually they saw it my way," he said with a slight chuckle, sounding proud of his efforts.

"Sir, I don't know if I'm qualified to-"

"Nonsense, son," said Taylor, and he placed his right hand on Deckards' shoulder. "The biggest problem with you was your age. The brass didn't really see how a twenty three year old would be able to monitor someone like Superman or keep tabs on the Dark Knight, so they opted for a, how shall I put this, _younger_ demographic," replied Taylor. The slight smirk on his face grew to a huge smile now, but as to whether it was out of sympathy or knowledge of what lay ahead for him, Deckard could not discern.

"There are heroes that are younger than me?" Asked Deckard. He had not remembered putting together a docket on anyone younger than 21, which happened to be Supergirl, not that being attached to her would be a _bad_ thing.

"I think you'll find your subjects to be an interesting case," replied Taylor, as he handed Deckard the docket. Deckard broke the seal with his right hand, and opened the folder up to reveal his assignment. Five pieces of paper within the docket immediately caught his eye. They featured a young female with orange skin, a green adolescent male in a black and purple flight suit, a half human half robot, someone who appeared to be dressed in clothes found in a monastery and finally, the last character was none other than the Boy Wonder himself. Deckard looked at the travel itinerary and saw his final destination: Jump City – Titans Tower. He was to report on the Teen Titans.


	2. Chapter 2

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 2 – DAWN

0730hrs PST, Saturday, 7 June  
Jump City - Titans Tower

Robin stood on the roof of the Tower watching the sunrise as he did every morning. The promise of a new day always resonated with him; it gave him something to look forward to even when things did not seem to be going as well as they should. Today, however, was not one of those days. He figured that he had been up here longer than normal and if he wanted to grab any of the breakfast Cyborg was cooking up, he should get down to the kitchen before it was all gone.

...

Cyborg used the spatula to scramble the last two eggs as they simmered in the frying pan. The yellow yolk mixed with the white to create a fluffy golden mixture that was beginning to smell as good as it looked. He added some pepper and salt to the mix, all the while making sure they did not stick to the pan. The ding of the electronic timer on his arm signaled that the bacon was ready.

"Mmm Hmm, nothin' better than bacon and eggs to start the day," he said.

"I can think of a better one, tofu bacon and eggs," replied Beast Boy. To this Cyborg simply stared with a disgusted look on his face. He let out a sigh and resumed cooking, all the while trying to remind himself that no matter how good he made it look, Beast Boy was never going to eat any of it. Ever.

"Morning guys," said Robin as he walked through the door into the living room. The sun had risen slightly higher in the sky from when he had seen it on the roof, but the view from the couch of the Tower living room was almost as nice as it was from the roof.

"Morning Robin. Ready for the usual?" Asked Cyborg. He took the frying pan off the stove and scooped the last bit of eggs onto a plate. There were four plates set with the delightfully smelling breakfast, with Beast Boys' plate off on the other end of the counter, a glass of soy milk next to it.

"Of course," replied Robin, who took a whiff of the food. To this he sat down in front of a plate and pulled out a knife and fork and began to eat. Cyborg killed power to the stove and removed his signature chefs hat and joined his friend sitting across the counter. Beast Boy was seemingly too enamored with the TV to come to breakfast, flipping channels as fast as his finger could push the button. As to whether his brain was processing them that fast, remained a mystery.

"You've done it again, Cyborg, another awesome breakfast," said Robin between chews. Just then the sound of the door opening caught his and Cyborgs' attention.

"Pleasant greetings friends!" Was the current greeting Starfire was using for her morning ritual. Behind her, as energetic as a dim light bulb, was Raven.

"Hey," came the soft spoken whisper, almost indiscernible from her lips. While Star walked briskly down the stairs and over to the kitchen, Raven opted to levitate over to her place at the breakfast table.

"Friend Cyborg, to what do we owe the honor of such a lovely breakfast?" Asked Star, her hands clasped together beneath her chin, her head cocked to the left.

"Uh, Star, I always cook breakfast," replied Cyborg. Starfire lost her childish grin and unclasped her hands.

"Oh, well, then, may I have some of the cats-up for my eggs please?" She asked. Robin slid the bottle down the counter towards her, which she promptly caught and began using generously on her eggs, eventually to where half her plate was covered in the red stuff.

"You know, Starfire, you can eat the actual food without the condiments," said Raven from her position across from Starfire. Her unwavering eyes and stone-like expression were never easy to get used to, but over time the Titans had become accustom to it. It took forever for her to get comfortable enough to walk around with her hood down, so the fact that she was conversing with her fellow heroes was a good sign. Starfire, however, seemed oblivious to Raven's statement as she began to horde her breakfast, shoveling it in quickly, not even bothering to savor the flavor.

"Yo, BB, your soy milk is gonna get warm," said Cyborg to the enthralled Beast Boy. Garfield seemed to ignore him, but after a span of ten seconds he replied with his characteristic "Huh?"

"I said, your breakfast is gonna get cold," said Cyborg again.

"Not like it's going to taste any different," said Raven.

"Dude, whatever, at least I don't have to resort to eating that cholesterol laden stuff! Someday, tofu eaters like me will rule the world and all you meat eaters will just have to bow down." Said Beast Boy, who finally managed to pry himself off the couch and meander over to the table, sitting between Star and Cyborg. He took a swig of his soy milk and began to eat his tofu…whatever it was. It all looked the same to the other Titans.

"So, what'cha got planned for today?" Asked Cyborg to Robin. Robin swallowed the last of his eggs and got up to walk over to the sink to rinse the plate.

"I think a good work out will start me off, followed by kicking your butt on Game Station, and then maybe a ride on the R-Cycle," replied Robin.

"Sounds good, except you're gonna be the one whose butt gets kicked on the Game Station," said Cyborg smiling. He, too, had finished his breakfast and walked over to the sink to clean his plate. Robin did not reply but simply looked at his friend with a cocked eyebrow, as if to say _bring it_.

"Dude, I don't know what I'm going to do today," replied Beast Boy to no one in particular. His tofu concoction was almost gone and his glass of soy milk empty.

"Probably the same thing you do everyday, sit around, watch TV, sleep and annoy people, and not necessarily in that order," said Raven. Beast Boy slouched and squinted his eyes at her, not tearing his gaze away. Raven simply continued to sip her herbal tea and focus on the morning sun outside the window, not noticing or not caring about the death stare Garfield attempted to impose on her. Eventually he gave up and went back to eating his tofu.

"I'm sure Beast Boy will find something to occupy his time, just like we all will," said Robin. He finished scrubbing the dish and placed it back in the dishwasher. He rubbed his gloved hands together and proceeded towards the door of the living room. "Thanks for breakfast Cyborg. I'll be in the gym if you need me," he said, and with that the door closed behind him.

"No problem man. Ladies? Was everything to your satisfaction?" Asked Cyborg. Starfire looked up at him with a sparkle in her eye.

"Oh yes, friend. Breakfast was wonderful!" She exclaimed giddily.

"It was good," came the monotone reply of Raven. Still sipping her herbal tea, she levitated the plate and silverware from the counter and maneuvered them around Cyborg and into the sink. Without looking away from the sunrise she asked "Are you done, Starfire?"

"Oh, why yes Raven, thank you," she replied. Raven then repeated the levitation process with Starfires' plate, all the while not looking at what she was doing.

"Uh, I hate to be the crabby cook, but I made breakfast, so I'm not cleaning up," said Cyborg.

"I cleaned up from both the lunch and the dinner yesterday, so I feel that I should not have to this time please," said Starfire. Raven simply stated "not it," which left the task to the ever uninformed Garfield, who was so engrossed in playing with his silverware that he failed to notice the conversation until the three of them were staring at him, smiling menacingly.

"What?" He asked dumbfounded.

"You got clean up duty, dude. You're the last one," said Cyborg.

"Aw man, c'mon, that's not fair," replied Beast Boy, but the consensus had already been reached without his input. Rather than fight it, he just opted to bite the bullet and do it to save himself the aggravation. He grumpily tied the apron around his neck and began washing the dishes starting with his own plate, and gradually picked up the two Raven had so carefully put in the sink.

"Man, this stinks," he muttered to himself. With Garfield on clean up detail, Cyborg, Starfire and Raven all left him to his task and spread out throughout the Tower. Cyborg went down to the gym to help Robin work out, Starfire went to go to the roof and take in the view while Raven retreated, as always, to her room. The five teenagers had little idea that this particular day held for them an encounter that would alter their lives forever, an encounter that would stress their friendship and team to the limit.


	3. Chapter 3

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 3 – WELCOME

1145hrs PST, Saturday, 7 June  
Jump City – International Airport

Agent Rick Deckard walked out of the terminal at JCI and looked around for his designated transportation. Normally he would have to hail a cab but the Bureau had seen fit to provide him with transportation to the local police station as well as the Jump City Field Office, where he would obtain his car. Deckard scanned the line of vehicles passing the terminal, looking for that stereotypical black or blue Crown Victoria that just screamed 'cop.' He found it, along with the driver, at the far end of the terminal and began making his way there. He brought with him three bags, two checked and one carry-on. He was unsure how long this assignment would last so he was having some other items shipped to him once he got established in Jump City. For right now, he could live comfortably for about two weeks with the amount of clothes and toiletries he had with him. He finally made it to the cruiser after dodging various travelers coming in and heading out of the airport to their vehicles.

"Agent Deckard?" Asked the driver. He was a well dressed man, wearing a single breasted suit typical of most FBI agents. He had a military style haircut, and Deckard noticed a West Point ring on his finger.

"Yes sir, you my ride?" Replied Deckard with his own question.

"That'd be me. Tom Faraday. Let's get you loaded up and down to the Field Office. We'll get you some food and a car and then you can hit up the locals," said Faraday, taking one of Deckards' bags and placing it in the trunk of the cruiser. Deckard handled the other one and closed the trunk, then proceeded up to the passenger door and climbed into the car. Faraday took his position behind the steering wheel and started the vehicle and within seconds they were out of the terminal and heading towards the Interstate. Deckard looked out the window as the scenery shot by at 70 miles per hour, taking in as much of it as he could.

"You'll find the local authorities are pretty cooperative as far as local departments go," said Faraday to the open air in the car. "There are a few bad apples, but depending upon what you're investigating, you could land a pretty good liaison in JCPD. Hey, speaking of which, what are you investigating, anyway?" Asked Faraday. The question caught Deckard off guard slightly, never having been part of such a classified operation like SOLAR.

"Weapons and munitions stuff. HQ thinks there's a ring of dealers using the port as a hub for running weapons upriver to Central City. DHS and ATF think that there's a link to terrorists somewhere, but they aren't positive," replied Deckard. He hated having to lie, but in this job, it came with the territory. He had a feeling that it was to be the first of a long line of lies that he would have to tell in order to keep this assignment under wraps.

"Weapons, huh? Haven't heard anything come down the line from Washington about that. What are you, some kind of specialist or something?" Asked Faraday.

"You might say that," said Deckard.

"You prior?" Asked Faraday. To this, Deckard seemed slightly confused. Apparently Faraday picked up on it because he started to elaborate. "Prior service, you know, ex-military?"

"Oh, no, I got picked up by the Bureau straight out of college. Got lucky with that I suppose," said Deckard. He looked out the window again. He could see a suspension bridge in the distance with a large city on the other side. "Is that it? That's Jump City?" Asked Deckard.

"Yeah, that's it. Granted, it's no Gotham, but I think you'll find the weather here a bit more pleasant and the workload more tolerable," said Faraday chuckling. The car continued down the road at 70 to the edge of the bridge. Deckard could now clearly make out a large building on a small island in the middle of the water. It looked like a huge 'T', a fact which Faraday was more than willing to point out. "That's Titans Tower, home of our resident Teen Titans. Not exactly inconspicuous, like your Batman, but they do a good job. Can't say I've ever seen them work, only dealt with the aftermath, but it sure beats having the city in ruins because of Cinderblock or Adonis running around."

"Yeah, it's definitely not inconspicuous," replied Deckard. He thought to himself _how on Earth am I going to get out there without being seen? They must have some type of security system in place to let them know intruders are coming_. Nevertheless, he had a task he had to perform and that meant getting into that Tower no matter what. He would just have to think of a way.


	4. Chapter 4

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 4 – POLICE

1351hrs PST, Saturday, 7 June  
Jump City – FBI Field Office

Deckard closed the driver door of the blue Crown Victoria that was to be his steed for the duration of his time in Jump City. It was almost brand new, with less than 100 miles on the odometer. The upholstery was spotless and the air conditioner actually blasted _cold_ air. LED lights were mounted throughout the unit, and the radio picked up all manner of frequencies, from the Field Office to the local police. He drove out of the lot and made a right onto Spruce Street, the dash-mounted GPS unit giving him turn-by-turn directions to the Jump City Police Station. It was only six miles away but with the weekend traffic it took him around a half hour to get there. He was getting tired of sitting, frankly. His flight from Metropolis was about six hours long, and the flight from Gotham the previous day about a third of that time. Between being in planes and cars for the last three days he was starting to enjoy any chance he could to stretch his legs.

Needless to say, it was a relief when he finally did park at the station and exited the vehicle. Squad cars lined the lot and as he approached the entrance he got a few strange looks from some uniformed officers. Some paid him no mind while others looked somewhat disgusted at his appearance. Apparently JCPD was only friendly to feds who had been working in the area for a while, not new hotshots who were only there to stir things up. Deckard knew in the back of his mind this was probably the last time he would see any of these officers, but he needed to make his presence known to the local authorities. The USB flash drive he had with him would tell the whole story to whoever needed to see it, and they would be under a federal gag order to not disclose anything they heard under penalty of a million dollar fine and up to 25 years in a federal penitentiary.

Deckard walked to the records desk and removed his sunglasses as he approached. Apparently every other FBI agent had done that same thing before him, because he got called on it before the glasses even made it into his jacket pocket.

"You federal?" Asked the receptionist.

"Yes, Agent-"

"Agent Deckard? You're to report to the commissioner's office. Take the elevator to the eighth floor; make a left, look for the plaque. It'll be the third office on the right," she said concisely. Obviously she had been here a _long_ time.

"Thank you," replied Deckard without stopping. He caught the elevator and followed the receptionists' directions to the tee and came to another secretary who directed him to the third office on the right. Within the office resided an rather young-looking woman with a set of stars on her shoulder. The plaque outside displayed her name; Emily Stantbridge. She was on the phone so rather than usher her off, Deckard opted to wait outside her office. As he did, a captain stopped in front of him.

"You guys just can't keep your hands out of the fire, can you?" He asked. Deckard was unsure why he was being asked and even more unsure of what the captain was talking about.

"I'm sorry captain, I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about," replied Deckard.

"I mean it seems like every time this agency washes its hands of one fed in a suit, another one comes along and takes his place," he said rather crassly. Deckard obviously saw that the man had no love of the FBI or any men in suits, which is probably why he was still on the road. Still, the fact that he seemed like he was going to take crap from a local cop did not sit well with him. Contradicting to his nature, Deckard stood up and took a step towards the captain, a move which he was not expecting.

"Listen very closely, captain. I am here because the federal government _told_ me to be here. I am here because of an investigation, a very _important_ investigation, and I was told anyone who gets in the way of me performing that investigation is subject to _a lot_ of monetary fines and _a lot_ of time in prison. So, unless you want my federal scorn to be cast upon _you_, I suggest you go grab your coffee and donuts before I decide you're hampering _my_ investigation. We clear?" Said Deckard. To this, the captain seemed visibly shaken. The confidence that had been in his eyes was no longer there and he fidgeted until he simply turned and left Deckard standing in the middle of the hallway. Deckard was surprised, both at himself for standing up and at the captain for leaving. He looked back to see the commissioner standing in the doorway to her office, looking at him.

"It's about time they send someone down here with some backbone," she said. "C'mon in here suit, let's see what you got." Deckard walked into the office and closed the door behind him. He watched as she took up position behind her desk, pulling her swivel chair out from underneath it.

"Is this room soundproof?" Asked Deckard. To this, the woman stopped and looked up at him.

"No, why? You got some super secret squirrel stuff you have to show me?" She asked coyly. Deckard didn't flinch at all and with that her slight smile disappeared from her face. Apparently the voice in her brain was blaring a _YES_ as loud as it could because she quickly got back up from her desk and walked past Deckard and opened the office door. "Follow me," she said. Deckard was hot on her heels all the way to the conference room at the end of the hallway. Once inside, he closed the door and latched it.

"No one else can enter while you're in this room?" He asked.

"No, I only use it to brief my command staff," she said. "So, this is serious?" She asked. Deckard did not reply, only opened the stereotypical metal briefcase carried by all federal agents. Inside it was a laptop computer equipped with a fingerprint scanner to which only Deckard was authorized access. He placed his right thumb on the scanner and the "ACCESS GRANTED" appeared on the screen. Once the desktop loaded, the seal of SOLAR emblazoned in the background, he inserted the USB drive into the port of the computer. He then looked at the commissioner.

"What you are about to see is confidential and is not to be discussed with anyone else within the agency or outside of it," he said. With that he spun the laptop around so the screen faced her. The look on her face was one of curiosity mixed with a tinge of fear. Deckard hit a button on the laptop keyboard and a slideshow began to play with no sound. He had opted to memorize the brief on the plane ride to Jump City, just with the screen off so no one could see the data.

"Three years ago, the federal government saw it fit to form a watchdog organization whose responsibility would be to oversee superheroes in various cities. Jump City is one of these cities. As an agent of this organization and a liaison between your agency and the federal government, I am here to let you know that I am to be provided with whatever resources I need to accomplish the task at hand. This includes unparalleled cooperation with your agency, any division, from Road Patrol to Investigations to SWAT. Anything I put in for will be provided and you will be compensated for," said Deckard. The commissioner seemed to be somewhat agitated at a lowly FBI agent giving her directives, but rather than visibly show her displeasure she opted to sit back in the chair and listen.

"Commissioner, I'm not going to make any absurd demands like a new car has to be provided every week. My agency has provided me with ground transportation, what I need from you is a portable scanner to monitor activities within the city," he said. To this, she seemed to be surprised.

"That's all?" She asked.

"Well, actually, there is one more thing," said Deckard. "Do you have a Marine Patrol?"

"Yes, why?" She asked.

"I need a personal watercraft, something fast preferably," he said. A slight smirk appeared on her face. Why Deckard could not really discern, but she picked up the phone in the conference room and hit a series of numbers. Someone must have picked up because she began to speak.

"It's Commissioner Stantbridge. I have an FBI agent in need of a watercraft. What do we have that's fast? Uh-huh. OK. Sure, I'll send him down. Do we have gear for him? Excellent. No, they're buying it from us. Yes, don't do anything to it. Leave it as is, but put fuel in it. Thank you," and with that she hung up the receiver. "I'll give you the address to get down there, it should be ready by the time you arrive at the docks," she said. Deckard admired her efficiency. "Now, may I ask you a question," she asked.

"Certainly," replied Deckard.

"Since you haven't come out and said it, I'm assuming that you'll be acting as watchdog over our resident Teen Titans, correct?" Since the question did not have to do with SOLAR directly, Deckard could answer it honestly.

"Yes ma'am," he replied.

"Why? The oldest is no older than nineteen. What does the FBI, or the federal government, want to do with a bunch of kids who only do good things for the population of this fair city?" She asked. That question was unusual, but Deckard felt he could answer it.

"Well, ma'am, that question is easily above my pay grade, but I'm guessing it would be because they're interested in monitoring _all_ the superheroes as opposed to just certain ones," he replied. She seemed to cock her head back in the chair as he removed the USB drive and closed the laptop case.

"You guys are monitoring _all_ the heroes? Not just the Titans?" She asked. Deckard could sense this conversation was starting to tread into the "no comment" realm, so he tried to parry the question in a different direction.

"As many as possible, what with the Bureau's limited resources. It's mainly to see how they operate in their elements in addition to seeing how much good they actually do," he said and with that he picked the metal briefcase off the table. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get to the docks." The commissioner did not really know what to say, but she had a pretty good grasp of what was happening. She could tell that there was more to Deckard and this project than he was letting on, but he was pretty sure one did not get to be a commissioner of a department like Jump City without knowing that the feds were digging in the backyard without letting her know from time to time.

"Of course. If you'll go see Jill at the end of the hall, she'll give you the address," she replied. Deckard outstretched his right hand to shake hers, and she returned the gesture. As he walked over the door and opened it, he stopped, turned and looked back at her.

"And, just so you know, I was never here," he said as serious as he could muster. He did not _have_ to say it, but with the tone already having been set with the "do not tell anyone about this" brief, he figured he would have some fun with it. This was the first time since he joined the FBI that he really had an opportunity to act like the stereotypical federal suit.

The commissioner did not think it was an act, because she hesitated before saying "I understand." With that, Deckard left the room and walked down the hallway towards the desk of the secretary. He would then proceed down to the Marine Patrol Unit at the docks and obtain his next method of transportation. Hopefully he could make it out to Titans Tower before sunset, all this running around combined with jet lag was starting to wear on him.


	5. Chapter 5

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 5 – TELEPHONE

1556hrs PST, Saturday, 7 June  
Jump City – Titans Tower

Raven hovered three feet off the ground, steady as a rock, in the living room of Titans Tower. With her eyes closed she could not see any of the outside world but could feel the warmth of the late afternoon sun on her exposed skin. It felt good to her, one of the few things she took pleasure in. She often tried to have her midday and afternoon meditations on the roof, but today the other Titans had opted to shoot a few hoops as opposed to congregating inside. Usually this was about the time they came in, but the game must have gone into overtime or Beast Boy lost the ball…again.

As Raven began to focus, she uttered the words that allowed her to channel her concentration; _Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos_. She heard them as they came into her mind, speaking with every exhaling breath. She was working towards finding her center when suddenly the TV in the room burst to life, shattering her concentration and knocking her to the floor. She stared at the ceiling for a second before rising to her feet. Her initial thought was Beast Boy had hit the remote from the back of the room, but she did not sense his presence, or that of any of the other Titans. Then she looked at the screen.

The face that appeared was stoic, hard and damn near scary. The unblinking eyes behind the cowl were so piercing Raven though they would cut right through her. Then he spoke.

"Where's Robin?" He asked coldly.

"I'm guessing you need to speak with him?" She replied, dusting herself off. His demeanor remained unchanged.

"It's urgent." He said. There was no change in his vocal pitch to indicate that it was urgent, just about as matter-of-fact as it could be. Raven reached for her communicator and flipped it open.

"Robin, it's Raven. You have a call…an _urgent_ call," she said. She looked up at the screen again. He hadn't moved from when she last looked at him; save his eyes seemed to have narrowed slightly.

"I'll be right there," was the reply that came back. Raven flipped the communicator off and placed it back in her cloak. She used her powers to bring the hood over her head and conceal her face, her eyes now somewhat hidden from his terrifying gaze. She heard the sound of the door open behind her and turned to face Robin with the other Titans in toe.

"Raven, who-"

"Robin, I have some information for you," said the cold voice from the screen. Although Batman was not one to meet in person, his presence on the screen was enough to evoke a sense of foreboding.

"And what might that be?" Said Robin with a hint of agitation. Since he had left to go solo, he held a certain amount of contempt for the Dark Knight. The Titans had worked with him before, on one occasion, but that was over a year ago and the tension between him and Batman was so thick it could be cut with a knife.

"It's important," said Batman.

"Obviously, otherwise you wouldn't have called," replied Robin.

"Robin, this is not the time-"

"There's never a right time with you. It's always about you, never about me, or us. It's always what can we do for you and never the other way around!" He exclaimed. Robin was still fairly heated over the debacle that happened the last, and only, time Batman came to Jump City. Slade was going to use a transmitter device to overload power grids in Jump City, although he had previously tested it in Gotham. Batman had been following leads for months, eventually leading him to Jump City and Titans Tower. He and the Titans had accomplished shutting Slade down, but the cost to he and Robin's already tarnished relationship was nearly beyond measure.

"Robin, let it go. This information concerns _everyone_, not just you," said Batman. "Yesterday, a meeting took place at the government complex in Metropolis. Ordinarily, it wouldn't mean anything, but then this morning a few members of the League found themselves being followed or approached by federal agents," he said. This sounded serious.

"What for?" Asked Robin.

"I'm not sure yet. My research is pointing to an initiative called SOLAR. It's been on the table for the last few years, since what happened with the Watchtower and Cadmus. I haven't been able to find a solid lead yet, but I'm getting close," Batman continued.

"What do you need from us?" Asked Robin.

"In the event a federal agent shows up at the Tower, take him in, be hospitable, but don't do anything out of the ordinary. The Question and I are working to try and figure who, or what, is behind this. In the meantime, we need to placate to what they're doing so we don't rouse any suspicion," he said.

"Understood. But, do you really think they'll send a federal agent here? I mean after all, we are just a bunch of 'kids,'" said Robin. To this Batman seemed to get visibly agitated, but if there was any change in his demeanor, only Robin would have noticed it.

"Don't underestimate the FBI, Robin. So far they've tried to match a federal agent to everyone, even me. Green Lantern has a former Marine trailing him, Huntress is being followed by a former undercover cop, so I'm sure that they found one or more agents who could relate to each of you," he said in response.

"Then where's the one following you?" Chimed Beast Boy. Batman said nothing in response, and Robin failed to acknowledge that Garfield had said anything.

"I'll keep you updated. If a fed comes sniffing around, you'll be the first call I make," said Robin.

"I'm sure," replied Batman, and with that the screen blacked out. Robin turned to face his team. Their expressions were somewhat sullen, but that was probably because they hated seeing Robin angry.

"Well, that went well," said Raven. Robin looked over at her.

"Why didn't you tell me it was him?" He asked. She looked away from him to answer.

"I didn't know I was supposed to screen your calls. He told me it was urgent so rather then tell you I just figured it'd be better to get you downstairs. Next time I'll make sure that I let you know exactly who's calling," she said and started for the door.

"Wait…Raven, I'm sorry. It's just-"

"I know Robin, it's all right," she said as she stopped in front of the door. She turned to face him, her hood still up from when she had received the stare of death from the Dark Knight.

"What did the Batman mean when he said we should placate to this government agent?" Asked Starfire.

"That we should just go about or normal routines, nothing out of the ordinary," replied Cyborg.

"Uh, _hello_? We're superheroes dude! Our normal routine includes all out bare knuckle brawls with all kinds of weirdos and bad guys!" Exclaimed Beast Boy.

"Regardless, if we have an agent show up, it's going to be hard for him to keep up. The majority of federal agents I've worked with were older…much older, so I don't think he'll be a problem," said Robin. That seemed to put the team at ease slightly, but now they had to wonder about if they would have to look out for this agent, if he even showed up.

"Well, I don't know about y'all, but I'm up for finishing our game. Score's still tied thirty four to thirty four and the next three point shot takes it all," said Cyborg spinning the basketball on this right index finder.

"Yeah, we are totally gonna kick your butts!" Said Beast Boy, standing next to Cyborg with the goofiest smile possible on such a small face.

"You're on, just try not cry too hard when Starfire and I make you eat those words," said Robin. With that, they made their way to the door, but not before Robin stopped to look back at Raven. "You know, we could use a referee for this one. Sure you don't want to come up?" He asked. Raven looked up at him, her hooded eyes like those of gemstones, glimmering in what light they captured from above. Slowly she closed them and pulled the hood down from over her head.

"I guess so," she said and with that she walked past Robin and into the hallway. The door closed behind Robin and all five Titans walked back up to roof.


	6. Chapter 6

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 6 – TRESPASSING

1926hrs PST, Saturday, 7 June  
Jump City – Jump City Bay

Deckard braced himself to take another wake from a boat heading the opposite direction. The Kawasaki Jet Ski Ultra LX he was riding was moving at a descent pace, close to 65 miles per hour, and with the water being nearly flat save for the occasional boat wake he was making good time. Still, the distance to Titans Tower from the Marine Patrol dock was pretty far, farther than he had initially predicted. Despite the water being relatively calm, he could feel every small wave as the Jet Ski flew across the water. For the larger wakes, he lifted his body off the seat and bent his knees to cushion the impact. It had worked pretty well, but when a large cruise ship coming into port passed him, no amount of knee bending could save him from the volume of air he caught hitting the wake. He guessed he went a full ten feet in the air, crashing down so he racked his genitals on the seat hard enough it made him howl in anguish. The pain had subsided slightly, but there was still a lingering sensation in his groin that begged to be put on ice. He would treat it eventually; right now he wanted to simply get to the Tower before the sun sank below the horizon.

The uniform he was wearing was a standard JCPD MPU wetsuit and helmet, equipped with a water-wicking coating and heads-up-display showing speed, fuel consumption and level, as well as direction and time. The wet suit was form fitting, which for most cops would be a problem. Deckard, however, filled out the suit pretty well. He made it a habit to work out anywhere between three and six times a week, transitioning between a combination of running, calisthenics, swimming and cycling. He was no Schwarzenegger, by far, but for a male his age he was in pretty good shape.

Still, the uniform was not exactly what he was hoping for, although it was not like riding a Jet Ski in a suit and tie was practical either. The storage bin underneath the seat was large enough to accommodate both of his duffel bags and laptop, as well as the clothes he had worn for the day. He had left the Crown Vic at the MPU dock, where it would remain until he returned. Though, in all honesty, he had no idea how soon that would be. He really had no idea what to expect when he went knocking on the Tower door. He had read up on their files at the MPU while they were prepping his Jet Ski, but in retrospect one could only remember so much information from a bunch of papers stuck in a docket.

_What if they show hostility_? He thought to himself. _What if you get there and they say "No way, copper, now get out of here before hurt you_." That would be the worst case, by far, but he had a job to do and was going to do whatever he had to to do it. He turned slightly to the left and continued on a path that would put him on course with Titans Tower. He flipped the switch that activated his navigation lights so he could be seen by other boaters. A city ordinance prevented the use of personal watercraft at night by civilians, but law enforcement was immune to that ordinance. Hopefully he could make it there before it got completely dark, because there was something about being on the water at night that made him uneasy.

...

Starfire walked into the living room to see the beautiful reds and oranges of the setting sun on the horizon. The living room faced east so the sunrise was always better to look at, but the hues cast by the setting sun behind the tower were still breathtaking in the summer months. She proceeded over to the large couch upon which Beast Boy had fallen asleep, the remote by his side. Casually, she sat down and reached for the remote and began to flip through the various channels until she found a program that intrigued her; something having to do with fungus.

Robin was in the kitchen making dinner for the five of them. He was not quite as good of a cook as Cyborg but he made an attempt, which is more than he could say for Raven or Beast Boy. Starfire did cook, but normally what she made was only something she could eat or it made the other Titans so sick they had to live in the bathroom for the following day. Robin and Cyborg did not mind, they would rather cook and have everyone happy than everyone sick or simply not eat. Robin was in the middle of glazing a ham when Raven came into the room; although this time she walked rather than levitated. She stopped short of the couch and briefly saw what Starfire was watching and then turned her attention towards Robin. Apparently the 'World of Fungus' was not something that could keep her attention.

"Anything I can help with," she asked Robin. Her hood was down, a good sign. Robin had nothing but admiration for the girl. For all that she, and the other Titans, had been through it seemed like there was very little else that could keep them from growing closer together. Yet, there was a special bond between her and Robin, a bond that none of the other Titans would ever understand. She relished the fact that even at the darkest point of her life, when everything seemed to be lost; Robin had never given up hope on her. For that, she was thankful in more ways than she knew how to express.

"No thanks Raven, I think everything's just about done. Take a seat and get ready, 'cause I'm betting this is going to be the best ham you've had in a while," said Robin with a simple smile. Raven smiled back at him just as the door opened and Cyborg stepped into the room.

"Do I detect the sweet smell of a glazed ham?" He asked. Whether it was his human or electronic sensors, Cyborg always seemed to know when food was about to be served. Robin set the ham out on the counter and started carving, giving a few pieces to Raven, a few more to Cyborg and the rest he split between himself and Starfire. Beast Boy, as usual, would have his tofu.

"Yes you do, and hopefully it's as good as the last one I cooked," said Robin. He waited for Cyborg to take a bite, chew vigorously and then swallow. The closing of his eyes and emergence of a huge smile along with a solid thumbs up told Robin that he had succeeded at his mission. Starfire glided over from her perch on the couch to the counter and began to eat with the rest of the team. Beast Boy, ever observant, remained asleep on the sofa.

"I'd say today was a good day," said Robin.

"Yeah, only because you beat me at Game Station _and_ basketball," replied Cyborg sarcastically.

"What can I say, it was just my lucky day," retorted Robin, a small smug appearing on his face. Cyborg looked somewhat discontented.

"Yeah, and to top it all off, no federal agents knocking on the door. Guess Batman didn't exactly have all the info he said he did," said Cyborg. He watched as Robin's demeanor changed.

"That'd be a first," he said grumpily. Without another word he continued to eat his dinner as the other three sat and watched him.

"Hey, sorry man, I was just-"

"I know. It's OK, believe me, I don't think I can remember a time when he _didn't_ have the right information," said Robin.

"Why is it that you and the Batman have such a bad history? I thought that you were at one time partners?" Asked Starfire. Robin knew that question was bound to come up sometime, he just was unsure when.

"We were. Things just started to go bad after a while. It was nothing either of us did to the other. Either way, it's ancient history. Besides, it doesn't matter where I came from, only that I'm on a team now, with you guys," he said. With that he got up and walked to the sink to wash off his plate. Cyborg was busy licking the honey glaze off his when he looked over at Garfield, still sleeping on the couch.

"Hey, who wants to make BB clean up again?" He asked half kidding. Starfire was too enamored with chewing her last piece of meat to answer while Raven was walking to the sink to rinse her own plate.

"If he cleaned up after breakfast, someone else needs to do it," Robin said. Cyborg looked around at the three of them; all giving him the look of _you do it_. Cyborg sighed as he stood up from the counter.

"All right, give me your plate Star," he muttered. "I just don't understand if we have a dishwasher why we have to clean the plates before they go in it," he said tying the apron around his neck. He started on the dishes while the other three joined Garfield on the couch.

"So, any good movies on tonight?" Asked Robin.

...

Deckard killed the motor to the Jet Ski and coasted up the shore of the island. He had circled it hoping to find a dock prior to choosing this place to come ashore. It was the only sandy portion he could see amidst the rocky outcroppings. Once the nose of the Ski hit the beach, he stepped off and pulled it farther up onto the sand. He was unsure how big the tidal change was and did not want his only method of transport to float away during the night. He removed the seat, secured the vessel with the anchor, and then obtained his bags. It was completely dark now, and he had a hard time seeing what he was doing. Eventually he remembered that the helmet was equipped with a night vision sensor, which he promptly activated. The blackness in front of him dissolved into a varied array of green, the sand showing up as an olive path among the dark rocks.

_OK, here goes nothing_ Deckard thought to himself. He began to walk up the path towards the base of the Tower, not noticing the faint lines of light that crisscrossed the path up to the door.

...

Inside the tower, the alarm suddenly started blaring. The movie they were watching immediately stopped as the TV switched over to a map of the Tower. A perimeter security laser had been tripped and the contact was moving closer to the base of the Tower. The klaxon startled Beast Boy awake to the point where he jumped towards Raven, only to be blocked by a wall of dark energy. He hit the floor somewhat dazed but awake.

"What is it?" Asked Cyborg.

"I don't know, but let's go find out," Robin replied and with that he bolted for the door, the other Titans in hot pursuit.

...

Deckard got to the door and dropped his gear. Still wearing the JCPD garb of Marine Patrol Officer, he opted to take off his helmet since the ambient light from the Tower was sufficient to see. He undid the snap at the back of the helmet and pulled it off his head when he felt a rush of air come up from behind him. He turned to see a green Peregrine Falcon hovering over him. He thought it was unusual to see a bird of prey out this late at night, and even stranger that it was _green_.

In the second it took for Deckard to make the connection that the green bird might not actually be a bird, he was hit square in the back by what felt like a steel soled boot. The force behind the impact propelled his body to the ground, pushing his face into the sand and getting some caught in his mouth. The speed with which he was hit startled him but now, where surprise had taken him, training began to take over. As he stumbled to his feet he reached for his only defense, an HK 45 pistol slung on his right thigh. Deckard stumbled forwards and turned to see a red and green blur jump upwards and careen towards him. Deckard, still reeling from the impact of the kick to the back, took his hand off the pistol and waited until the last possible second. As Robin came down, leg outstretched, he captured the Boy Wonder's leg with both arms and used Robin's own momentum against him. Deckard stepped backwards and parried the flying boy to his left. Deckard then let go and watch the boy fly.

Robin was somewhat dazed by his sudden change in direction, but he simply slid into the ground with fineness and looked back at the intruder. He had seen that uniform somewhere before and it almost seemed recognizable. Then he saw Raven appear from behind with dark energy radiating from her hands. Her eyes glowed white and she was about to unleash her fury when Beast Boy screamed.

"Dudes! He's a cop! He's a cop!" Robin did a double take and saw the word 'POLICE' emblazoned along the arms of the wet suit. He watched as Raven, still powering up her strike, floated to the ground calmly and her eyes returned to normal. The dark energy in her hands dissipated and she covered herself with her cloak. Starfire and Cyborg, both having taken flanking positions to the sides of Deckard, emerged from behind the rocks. Beast Boy walked up to Robin, slightly flabbergasted by what had just happened.

"Good call Beast Boy. That really could have turned out badly," Robin said. He looked over at the cop. He was a well built guy, taller than he was and armed. He had to have some type of training in order to parry his attack the way he did, or maybe it was sheer luck that enabled him to toss Robin aside. Either way, it was time to talk. "Why did you come out here? We've never had police come to the Tower before. Who sent you?" Deckard was still trying to regain his breath when the questions got fired at him. He figured it'd be better to answer between his respites then ask to wait until he recaptured full breath.

"Agent Rick Deckard…FBI…I was sent here…sent to observe you…" was the reply. Deckard was on his knees and right arm, trying to regain his breath. The look on the Titans faces changed from one of perplexed curiosity to one of pseudo-surprise but also of concern. Was it possible that they had been tipped off? Either way, he had a feeling the situation could only get worse from this point forward. He saw Robin coming closer to him and he was not quite sure what to expect. He started to push himself back but found his path was blocked by a rock. He turned to see that he had no where to go and if they really meant to do him harm he was about to know for sure. Robin walked up next to him and stretched out his hand.

"Sorry about all this, Agent Deckard. You tripped one of our security alarms walking up to the door. We weren't sure who you were," he said. With that he helped get Deckard to his feet. He looked around and wiped the sand from his forehead. His back was in pain and his shoulders were starting to share in the experience.

"Understandable. That's one hell of a kick you got there Robin," replied Deckard. The other Titans approached him in turn, each introducing themselves to their new guest.

"Oh, I am so sorry for the way we meant to bring harm upon you Agent Deckard. Please, allow me to make it up to you," said Starfire as she came to rest in front of Deckard. She was relatively tall for a girl her age, with bright orange skin and green eyes. Her fire engine red hair caught the slight breeze coming off the Bay and separated in the wind.

"It's not a problem…Starfire?" Asked Deckard. Even though he knew who she was, he was till trying to gain his bearings after being introduced to a full on thrashing by those he was to observe. Beast Boy was next to welcome Deckard to the Tower.

"Dude, I just want to ask you one question," he said.

"Sure," replied Deckard.

"Are there really agents who work on the X-Files?" He said. The rest of the crew cringed in disbelief but Deckard actually thought it was kind of funny.

"No, unfortunately not Beast Boy. Sorry to disappoint you," said Deckard chuckling. He then noticed the tin man approach from behind Starfire. He was pretty buff for a teenager and his cybernetic enhancements made him seem even larger. "You must be Cyborg," said Deckard.

"That's right man. Hope Robin didn't thrash you too hard there," he said in response.

"Oh, I'll live," said Deckard as he grinned and bared the pain. It was then that he noticed the last girl, the one who looked like she came out of a convent. Her blue cloak masked her pale face but her stunning eyes were still clearly visible. He could not discern what type of figure she held beneath the robes but had a feeling that she had quite a physique.

"Hi," were the only words that came from her mouth. Her voice was somewhat deep and raspy for a girl but still feminine in tone. Deckard was so lost in her eyes that he almost forgot to respond.

"Hello, Raven. I must say that I'm glad Beast Boy called off your attack before you really did some damage," Deckard said. She seemed to show no emotion towards what he said, only continued to stare at him, as if gazing into his mind.

"You should be," she replied. Deckard was not sure if she was upset at the fact she did not get to fight or if she was just always so monotone.

"You'll have to excuse Raven, she's not exactly a people person," Robin said.

"Understandable. I can share the sentiment," groaned Deckard, who was now in a considerable amount of pain but did his best to not let it show. "Listen, I'd love to get to know each of you more thoroughly but is there any chance I could get a hot shower and a water bottle. My back is killing me," he said. Almost as if on cue, Raven approached him from behind. She held out her hands but this time a light blue hue emanated from her palms rather than the normal black. Deckard felt a weird sensation come over his muscles, like slowly submerging himself in an icy pool. The tingling lasted for only a few moments and when Raven lowered her hands any pain Deckard had in his back was a memory. "What was that?" He asked.

"Just my way of apologizing," replied Raven and with that she levitated away from him. Deckard was nearly stunned; in less than two minutes he had seen just how formidable yet conscientious this young group of heroes could be.

"Well, I don't know about anyone else, but can we go back inside? It's freezing out here," said Beast Boy.

"Agreed. You look like your pretty cold, Agent Deckard. Let's get you inside so you can get that hot shower," said Robin. He motioned for Deckard to walk next to him as they approached the entrance to the Tower. Cyborg picked up Deckards' bags from their location near the door and carried them inside. The entrance was grandiose, unlike any Deckard had seen in any other building. The lines of the stairs at the rear of the room combined with the height of the ceilings to make the impression that this was the home of a millionaire rather than five teenage heroes.

"Nice place," stated Deckard.

"Thanks," replied Robin. Cyborg was right on their heels with Deckards' gear, the other three Titans tailing him. "We'll take you upstairs and show you to your room. There's a bathroom attached, so you can clean up there," he added. As Deckard entered the elevator with the five heroes he was to survey, there was only one thing he could think of that would ease his mind at the moment; a good nights sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 7 – REDIAL

2257hrs PST, Saturday, 7 June  
Jump City – Titans Tower

Deckard was out like a light. The Titans had escorted him up to one of the guest rooms and allowed him to shower and change. Robin had caught a glimpse of him with his shirt off as he was unpacking; he was no body builder, but his physique was a type that broadcast he worked out or trained quite a bit. Maybe he had a martial arts background, but he could not be sure. Either way, Robin had told him where the facilities were within the Tower; the gymnasium, the court, the living room and where the Titans rooms were. Of course, he would not be able to access the rooms even though he was on the same floor.

Shortly thereafter, when Robin came by to check on him and see if he was settled in, he found him fast asleep. From what Robin could discern, he had had a rough two days of traveling and the time difference between Gotham and Jump City was enough to screw up any ones biological clock. Of course, he forgot to take into account he had beat him up pretty good when he first arrived. Now that he was asleep, Robin could concentrate on the important stuff, like determining who exactly their new house guest was. He walked out of the hallway lined by the bedrooms and towards the living room. The sliding doors parted to reveal the other four Titans sitting on the couch, each one putting forward their own ideas as to why there was an FBI agent now living in their house.

"I'm telling you guys, he's here to steal our DNA! And once he gets it, the government is going to use it to make a super soldier that won't have any weaknesses which will be great until they go haywire and start nuking everything on the planet!" Exclaimed Garfield. The look from the others was enough for him to realize how absurd the idea sounded, even from him. "Well, you got any better ideas?"

"For starters, he's probably here to see how we operate as a team. Once he sees that, he'll probably start scrutinizing each of us individually, looking to see if maybe we have what it takes to operate on our own," said Cyborg, theoretically. Starfire gasped at the thought.

"Friend Cyborg, you do not mean that he has come to split up our team do you?" She asked worriedly.

"No, Starfire," replied Raven from behind her book.

"Then, Raven, do you know why the government man is here?" She asked curiously. It's a question all of them wanted to know, but unfortunately Raven did not have an answer either.

"Unfortunately, no, I don't. But I think we all know someone who does," she said as she lowered her book from in front of her face and closed it.

"You think we should call him?" Asked Robin. The team did not notice him come in, but the fact that he had been present to hear the last part of the conversation seemed to make them uneasy.

"Uh, didn't you say you were going to call him if one of those X-Files guys showed up?" Asked Beast Boy throwing his arms out to his sides. Robin stood unabashed by his statement but knew that he had told Batman he would call if an agent showed up at the Tower.

"Yeah, I did," he replied. He walked around the couch and in front of the other Titans. Slowly he turned to face the TV screen and looked up at it, torn between wanting to find out and not call for help.

"Robin, there's no harm in asking him for help," said Raven. Robin took a breath.

"Cyborg, were you able to scan his computer, find any information that we could use as to why he's here or what his motives are?" He asked.

"Sorry man, got nothing. His laptop's unlike anything I've ever seen before. It's got some kind of electronic shielding around all the circuitry, kind of stuff that protects it from an EMP. I tried to access it with my computer but its Wi-Fi is super encrypted, almost military grade stuff. No way I can get in unless I can access it directly," he replied. _Great, another dead end_ thought Robin.

"Well, I guess that leaves us with only one option," Robin said narrowing his eyes. He turned to face the TV screen and pulled a bat-shaped device out of his utility belt. He thumbed a button and instantly the TV screen went to static, the steady hiss of the snow resounding through the speakers. "Cyborg, seal the door," said Robin without looking back at him.

"You got it," replied Cyborg and he turned to head towards the entrance to the living room. He placed his hand on the scanner to the left of the door and initiated the lock down sequence for the Tower, but also locked out the door to the living room. As he turned back around, the static on the screen cleared and an image of a dark cave appeared on the monitor. The Titans could vaguely make out the silhouette of a cloaked figure in the background. As he got closer, the pointed ears and unblinking eyes became more distinguishable. Eventually he sat down in front of the screen almost looking dead set at Robin.

"What have you got?" He asked coldly.

"An agent showed up about two hours ago. He tripped our security and we almost took him out," said Robin.

"Pays to be observant. He's not in the hospital, is he?" Asked Batman. Robins' gaze narrowed but he knew he was going to take heat for what happened from somebody.

"No…Raven tended to him. His name is Deckard, Rick Deckard. Said he came out of the Bureau's Gotham office. Any chance you know him?" Asked Robin, skirting the issue of whether Deckard was hurt or not.

"Doesn't ring any bells. I'll see what I can turn up on him and get back to you," said Batman. He was about to cut the transmission when Robin asked another question.

"Did you uncover anything else on SOLAR?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. SOLAR is the acronym for the Superhuman Oversight Legitimization And Regulation project, the spearhead for a watchdog program to keep tabs on all the superheroes they can find. Looks like it's a worldwide effort with the US government contributing the majority of the resources. The FBI is at the center with various agencies providing logistical support. So far, it seems like they've only deployed agents to people on whom they have a lot of information, or ones they need to obtain more about," Batman replied.

"You think that's the case with us?" Asked Cyborg.

"Not sure. Keep me posted on anything else that comes up. I'll look into your guests' background and contact you when I find something. Shouldn't take long," he replied and with that the screen went black.

"Ha! See, I told you he was a spy!" Exclaimed Beast Boy.

"Can it man. This is serious," replied Cyborg. Beast Boy turned away from him only to see the stoic look from Raven reinforce what he said. Rather than contest it, Garfield opted to just cross his arms and close his mouth but took solace in the fact he was actually right about something.

"No, Beast Boy's partially right. It sounds like Deckard may be part of this SOLAR program, and we need to find out-. "Robin was interrupted by the sound of the TV screen coming back to life. The outline of a cowled figured appeared, this time illuminated by the soft glow of the computer screens surrounding him.

"Got some information for you," he said. Robin could not believe it had taken him just mere seconds to obtain the information, but he was ready to receive it.

"Go ahead," Robin replied.

"Rick Deckard, twenty three years old, graduated early from Gotham State University two years ago with a double major in criminology and psychology. Was a gold medalist on the school karate team, picked up by the FBI right after graduation. His father was a police officer in Gotham who was gunned down when Deckard was thirteen. Worked at the field office in Gotham until being assigned to a 'senior level project' of which no information is available," Batman said.

"Sounds like another term for SOLAR," said Robin in return.

"Most likely, but don't get ahead of yourself. See what you can get from him. He's young, that's probably why they assigned him to you. They probably figured you'd relate to him better than if they sent someone older to observe you," Batman replied.

"You mean someone closer to your age?" Asked Robin sarcastically, cocking an eyebrow. The Dark Knight's expression soured visibly.

"We'll be in touch," was all that came back before the screen went dead again. Robin did not really care if he had somehow managed to piss Batman off, but he did care that he had managed to obtain a little bit more information about SOLAR and Agent Deckard.

"Well, at least that was better than the last time he called," said Beast Boy. To his surprise, no one berated him or told him to shut up.

"Yeah, but now we have to worry about getting information out of Deckard before he gets what he needs on us," said Robin. The others looked concerned.

"And what if Agent Deckard obtains all the information he requires?" Asked Starfire. That was the question everyone wanted the answer to, but unfortunately, no one wanted to think about it.


	8. Chapter 8

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 8 – CONFRONTATION

0635hrs PST, Sunday, 8 June  
Jump City – Titans Tower

Deckard stepped out of the bathroom as he ran the towel across his hair. He had been able to sleep for a full seven hours, or so he thought. He really was not quite sure what time he had racked out, but he knew it was shortly after he had taken a shower the night before. He awoke this morning at around 5:00AM, like he usually did back in Gotham, and made his way down to the gym on the floor below the living area. The facility was equipped with some of the most up-to-date machinery he had seen, including a few he had not. The amount of weights on one of the bars had to belong Cyborg, because there was almost a half ton racked on it.

Deckard began his workout with a six mile run on the treadmill, followed up by various sets of push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and dips. His final exercises including lifting some weights followed by a 15 minute all out martial arts beating on the hanging bag. By the time he had finished, it was a little after 6:00 and he figured he should go freshen up before the day started. As he walked by each of the Titan's rooms he could hear some of them snoring. Cyborg and Raven were completely silent, but Beast Boy and Star more then compensated for their muteness. Deckard chuckled to himself and wondered if their idea of getting up early was closer to noon.

After showering, Deckard emerged from his room dressed casually and walked to the living room to see where the Titans spent the majority of their time. When the doors parted he was forced to stand in awe of the size of the room, not to mention the huge TV screen on the far side. Even more spectacular was the view, which looked out over the Jump City skyline and the suspension bridge that Deckard had traveled over the previous day. Twilight was cast behind the buildings but the sun had not yet risen. His appreciation for the view was interrupted by the growling of his stomach, which had not had anything sufficient to eat since he left the field office yesterday. Rather than wait for the Titans to rise, he opted to inspect their fridge and see what they had to cook. The pickings were slim, but it was enough. Deckard had helped put himself through college by working as a cook in a local diner. He had become quite skilled at his craft and had thought about going to culinary school before getting picked up by the FBI. He figured that since he was going to live here for what appeared to be an indefinite period of time, he should contribute. He only hoped that his sentiments would be appreciated.

...

Raven opened her eyes lazily, not wanting to accept that another nights sleep had come to such and abrupt end. She looked out her window as a flock of gulls flew by, no doubt starting their search for breakfast. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, her room gradually coming into focus. When she could see clearly, she got out of bed and made her way into her bathroom. She turned the faucet on and spun the dial so that it bottomed out on the blue 'C'. Raven preferred to take cold showers as she felt like they were more cleansing and refreshing than warm ones. She very rarely made it a point to take a warm bath in place of a shower, the feeling of submerging herself in the tepid liquid made her feel more relaxed and lavished.

She removed her leotard and stepped into the cascade of icy water, shutting the framed glass door behind her. The cold shock to her system was immediate, but soon her skin became accustom to the feeling. She lathered soap over her pale body, a generic brand that gave off no noticeable scent. The last thing she wanted was for Garfield to have an excuse to start sniffing her, because she knew that given the opportunity, he would. She looked over herself as the water flowed down her chest and torso, her pale skin made her look like a white marble sculpture against the black tile of her shower.

She would never admit it, but her bath was the most extravagant in the whole Tower. Black tile was set throughout with a blue ceiling, and an obsidian counter featured a recessed sink with faucets that emulated the claws of a griffin. The spouts were talon-like in appearance, as were the towel rings on the wall next to the shower. The door to the shower was a stained glass, gradually fading from dark blue at the bottom to clear at the top. This was mainly for aesthetic purposes but it also served to hinder anyone who might venture a look at Raven while she was bathing, not that Raven believed she had anything to look at anyway. She knew Beast Boy, and even Robin to some extent, found her attractive but could not really place why. She just blamed it on adolescent male hormones, which is what she usually attributed everything else too when it came to boys.

She bowed her head and allowed the cascade of water envelope her hair and neck. The tingling cold sensation started at the base of her neck and shot down her spine and surrounded her skull simultaneously. She let out a sigh of satisfaction as the feeling permeated down her back, engulfing her shoulders and upper arms. Eventually, the sensation died out and with that she began to shampoo her hair, after which she rinsed it thoroughly. She then killed the flow of water to the shower head and reached for a towel hanging over the top of the glass partition. She shimmied the cloth across her head and then down her back and butt and then did each leg, and then dried her front sections working up from the abdomen.

Once dried off she wrapped the towel around herself and walked over to the sink. Using her left hand she started to brush her hair while operating a blow dryer with her right. Upon completion of that task she stepped back out into her bedroom. Slowly she raised her right hand and dropped the shades on the window, casting the room in darkness. She let her towel fall around her ankles and simply stood there nude. This was the only time she ever enjoyed the feeling of not having clothes on, apart from bathing. She had tried sleeping naked a few times but it just did not feel right. She stood there, next to her bed, and closed her eyes feeling the air flowing through the room around her. After what felt like several minutes she eventually decided it was time to face the facts and embrace the new day.

She pulled another leotard out of her closet and put it on. She then put her amulet belt on over her head and set it on her left hip, letting it drop on the right side, as she always did. Grabbing a cloak from the other end of her wardrobe, she placed it on a hook and retrieved a pair of boots from the closet floor. Turning around to face her bed again, she lifted her right hand and using her powers made her bed in less time than a raw recruit at basic training. She stepped into her boots, wrapped the cloak around her body and stepped out into the hallway where a distinct smell hit her nostrils almost immediately; waffles, and not just any waffles, but cinnamon waffles.

...

Deckard was in his element. He flipped the eggs with a precision usually reserved for the cooking network. His bacon was sizzling nicely and the waffles were toasting. He had just started on preparing BB's tofu stuff when he heard the door to the living room open. He turned to see Raven with her hood down for the first time since he had arrived at the Tower. She was even more beautiful than he imagined. Her hair was a radiant violet, though not quite as captivating as her eyes. He wanted to keep staring, of course, but did not want to make it obvious he was gawking; he gave her the greeting of the day.

"Morning Raven. Would you like some coffee or tea before breakfast?" He asked. Raven walked down from the top of the stairs and approached the counter. Deckard had a multitude of things cooking at once, but nothing looked burned or overdone.

"Why are you cooking?" She asked.

"I just figured as long as I'm here I might as well help out," he said, flipping the eggs again.

"This isn't your job at the FBI is it? Agent slash cook?" She asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"No, actually, when I was in college I worked at a diner to earn extra money. I learned how to cook there," he replied. He took a quick swig from a glass of ice water before grabbing a pair of captive waffles that the toaster had just released. Raven was impressed by the speed at which he was operating, while at the same time making sure the attention to detail was unwavering. She noticed he had a pot of coffee brewing as well as a tea kettle on the stove. As if he knew she was looking at them, he asked the question again. "So, yay or nay on the coffee?"

"Is there any particular reason why you're brewing tea?" She asked in response.

"I wasn't sure what you liked in the morning," he replied.

"What I'd like to know is how you know I drink tea?" She asked. She could tell the question caught Deckard off guard because he paused briefly before he resumed tending to breakfast, but at a less exuberant pace than before. He was trying to formulate an answer but did not want to stretch the lie too far.

"Just a lucky guess I suppose," he said coyly.

"Sure it was. If you expect me to believe that, then maybe I ought to try and get the answer myself. Don't lie to me," she said harshly. This was not good, but Deckard knew he could not reveal how he knew without revealing the premise behind why he was really here. Then again, it was probably better to explain it than have Raven go snooping around in his mind.

"The Bureau has a file on each of you, listing some of your abilities, powers and skills. What little information there was on personal likes and dislikes was considered unimportant, but I felt knowing those things would make getting to know you guys easier," he said convincingly, or so he hoped. "That's the truth." Raven's expression remained unchanged; she was focused completely on Deckard.

"How long have they been spying on us?" She asked.

"Hey, look, I don't know. I only got handed this job two days ago and all the info I know was given to me then," he answered as he turned around and handed her a plate with two eggs, three bacon strips and two waffles. She did not take it but instead continued with her terror gaze.

"How do I know you didn't poison it or plant a tracking device?" She asked.

"Oh, c'mon-"

"I'm serious. I know nothing about you and therefore no reason to trust you," said Raven. Deckard was unsure what to do.

"Because I'm not trying to kill you, Raven. And why would I need to put a tracking device in your food when I could just as easily put one on your clothes? Plus, I already know where you live, so what does it matter?" Replied Deckard with his own question. That seemed to get her attention, but he wanted to clinch it. "OK, you want proof?" He asked blatantly. She looked back at him.

"It'd be nice."

"Then here," said Deckard as he handed her his cell phone. On the screen was an entry for someone named Taylor and a phone number. "Call him, he'll tell you the truth. That's my immediate supervisor. He'll tell you I'm only here to observe, not spy and certainly not assassinate…that's CIA's job," he said half jokingly. Raven could sense that he was being truthful from how calm he remained. She could detect any mental shuffling that normally sent a mind racing when it had to come up with a lie. Without a word she sat down at the counter and moved the plate closer her. Deckard felt a sense of relief wash over him.

"I'll have tea," she said calmly, seemingly satisfied with his answer.

"You got it," replied Deckard, and he went to pour her a cup but not before taking back his phone. He had avoided that mess but knew there would be others in the future. He was going to have to talk to Taylor about this.


	9. Chapter 9

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 9 – INTENTIONS

0840hrs PST, Sunday, 8 June  
Jump City – Titans Tower

The door to the living room closed behind Deckard, leaving the Titans to themselves. Cyborg and BB were engaged in trying to slay each other in Battle Bot Bonanza 3 while Star was putting away clean dishes. Robin and Raven were standing by the window discussing what had transpired before the other Titans arrived for breakfast this morning.

"So he already knows a good deal about each of us. That's disconcerting," said Robin worriedly. He looked concerned, but to Raven, sometimes it was just as hard to read him as it was for the others to read her.

"Apparently whatever he has on us is pretty limited in scope. He knows a bit about our powers, our origins, and our histories but nothing about our personalities or how we are as individuals," she said.

"We're going to have to tread lightly, _very_ lightly. We can't let him suspect that we know anything about SOLAR or the other heroes being followed. If we just play it like normal, I don't think we'll have to worry too much about him," responded Robin with as confident a smile as he could muster. That reassured Raven slightly, but it was still troubling to know that someone else could know so much about them, about her, without their knowledge. It made her feel insecure and even more so, it made her feel vulnerable, and she hated the feeling.

...

Deckard waited until the door closed behind him before he flopped onto the bed. His face melted into the comforter, until he turned his head so that he could breathe. He figured he should try to compose himself before calling Taylor via vidlink on the laptop. He needed to try and figure out what he was going to say so that he would not come off sounding like a moron. There was not too much he could say because all he had done so far since he arrived was get his butt kicked, sleep, work out and cook. Still, he was willing to bet that the other agents were not doing much better, but there was only one way to find out.

He got off the bed and walked over the desk in his room. He sat down in the chair and opened the laptop case and retrieved the device. Hitting the power button, he listened as the fan began to spin up and heard the characteristic sound of the hard drive initializing inside the casing of the computer. The screen displayed the sign-in prompt and he entered his name and password. This opened the main desktop where he selected a file named 'PRJ: SLR' which redirected him to a new screen asking for fingerprint verification. Using his right thumb as he had the previous day, he scanned his print and watched as the screen flashed "ACCESS GRANTED" and connected to the SOLAR database. From this menu, he selected "ACTIVE COMMUNICATION" from the dropdown options and was prompted to enter a vidlink identification number. Taylor's was 110255. He input the digits and in 60 seconds a screen appeared with the face of Taylor at the center.

"Deckard, how are you doing son?" He asked.

"OK so far, sir. Nothing out of the ordinary," Deckard replied.

"Well, it's only your first real day, keep that in mind. They haven't tried to kill you yet have they?" Asked Taylor jokingly.

"Almost sir, they beat me up pretty well when I first arrived," said Deckard, reluctant to go into details about the thrashing.

"Really, a young gun like you? That's a surprise, but you're OK right?" Asked a semi-concerned Taylor.

"Yes sir, Raven healed me up better than before which I didn't know she could do," Deckard replied.

"Good. Make sure you update her profile, any new information we get we need to update," reminded Taylor. "Glad to hear you're all right, that's more than I can say for Kenwood."

"What happened to him?"

"We're not sure, but they found him hanging upside down from a construction crane in downtown Gotham about twelve stories up scared out of his mind," said Taylor.

"Sounds like the work of our dear Batman," Deckard said matter-of-fact.

"I don't doubt it. I've opted to take Kenwood off the project seeing as though I don't think he's up for coming back," said a frustrated Taylor.

"Can you blame him?" Asked Deckard.

"No, not really, but that makes three agents lost now," Taylor replied.

"Three?"

"Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, three founding members of the Justice League have been able to elude or scare off our agents so far," said Taylor. The frustration that he was experiencing seemed to be mounting to Deckard, but Taylor was doing his best to not display it openly. "Looks like you really did your homework Deckard, because everything you put in their profiles was correct down to a tee."

"Thanks, sir."

"You're welcome son. Anything else?" He asked hastily. Deckard knew that if he did not bring up the subject now, the next time he called he was only going to have to explain himself.

"Actually, yes sir, there is one thing. Seems to me that, perhaps, my targets might know more about my intentions than I think," said Deckard.

"Go on," answered Taylor, now intrigued by what might be happening.

"It was a minor thing having to do with a personal preference in the profile, but they wanted to know how I knew the information. I attempted to shrug it off as a lucky guess but she saw past it. I think they suspect that the motive of having a federal agent here is more sinister than what it really is," Deckard said. Taylor soaked up what Deckard told him and took some time to process it before he responded.

"Don't worry about it, Deckard. I've heard the same thing from some other agents. It's only a minor detail, just do your job as best as you can and as you were instructed. That's all I can ask you to do," replied Taylor.

"Understood sir," said Deckard, somewhat unsatisfied with the answer but accepted it nonetheless.

"Well, listen, I've got to run, got a meeting with the director but let me know whenever you come across anything new…and update those profiles," said Taylor.

"Affirmative," replied Deckard.

"Taylor out," and with that the vidlink terminated. Deckard leaned back in his chair as the "END OF TRANSMISSION" message appeared where the active vidlink once was. Deckard closed the window and exited the SOLAR database, returning to the desktop. Slowly he placed both hands over his brow and closed his eyes. Something did not feel right in the way Taylor answered the question he had regarding the Titans suspicions. Normally with a project of this magnitude, if at any time the authorities thought the target suspected FBI involvement, they would lay low until the suspicion died out. Deckard had been told initially when he started on the project that he was simply "profiling" the heroes of the Justice League in a "more detailed and thorough manner than previously done." When he discovered the true reason for the profiles, that they would be the basis for the SOLAR project, he felt like he had been betrayed by the agency. Growing up, he had idolized Batman and the other heroes of the Justice League. Now it seemed like he was spying on them, or more accurately, gathering intelligence on them.

What that intelligence was for, Deckard could only speculate.


	10. Chapter 10

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 10 – REVEALED

1200hrs EST, Sunday, 8 June  
Washington D.C. – FBI Headquarters

Taylor left his office briskly, his gait long and fast. This was not any different from his normal walk but he was moving with a sense of urgency that conveyed he should not be stopped for any reason or for anyone. He had a meeting to keep, but contrary to what he told Deckard, it was not with the director. Taylor took the elevator to the bottom floor of the building and walked through the main lobby, stepping across the large seal of the Bureau as he crossed the rotunda. He walked down a hallway to the left of the main entrance and approached a door with his access keycard in hand. Quickly he swiped the card through the reader and pulled open the door.

He stepped onto a landing and waited until the magnetic locks sealed the door behind him before he began descending the metal staircase. The staircase led to a hallway with a single door at the end equipped with another card reader mechanism. Initially, this portion of the building was to act as a fallout shelter during the Cold War in the event of a nuclear attack. Now it served as a secure area which allowed agents working on projects, like SOLAR, to communicate with those echelons above them without being traced. The electronic encryption keys and firewalls attached to the mainframe were only exceeded by a few other agencies in the world, all of them being within the United States.

Taylor swiped the ID card through the scanner but this time was prompted to provide a voice print in addition to his card. He leaned in closely to the microphone and said his name, "Donovan Taylor," and with that the activation tone sounded and the six steel rods holding the door in place retracted, allowing it to be opened. Taylor walked through the now open passage and went to the third door on the right of the dimly lit hallway, pushing it open with his right hand. Once inside the room, he locked the door from within and sat down at the workstation. The monitor was actually two, joined together to allow the user to operate two systems at once. With a few quick keystrokes, the desktop dissolved and he opened the pathway to the SOLAR database, not under his FBI name, but a pseudonym; Adrian Bose.

This name redirected him to another set of menu options, to which he selected four recipients on the vidlink dropdown menu. After approximately 60 seconds of wait time, he was able to distinguish four silhouettes blacked out against a lighter colored background.

"How goes the project?" Asked one of the ghost men, his voice altered so as to avoid detection. Taylors' identity and voice would also be masked from these men in addition to his name, hence the pseudonym, for the subject of this meeting was highly sensitive in nature.

"What's the damage done so far?" Asked another one of them. Taylor wasted no time in replying.

"We have a good majority under the surveillance umbrella, but several have slipped through the cracks including three of the founding members. I'm working on coming up with a solution to that problem as we speak. In the meantime, we are ready to begin phase two," said Taylor. There was a brief discussion among the four outlines on the screen before they addressed Taylor again.

"Internment at our holding facility can begin immediately. You can initiate the transfers from the various facilities, and those not present will be transported upon apprehension. Are you sure this will not rouse suspicion, Mister Bose?" Asked one of the ghosts, sounding as concerned as the voice masking would allow.

"I can assure you that they are totally unaware," replied Taylor, knowing full well how untrue that statement was. He remembered Deckard saying something about how the Titans might possibly be aware of the bigger scope behind SOLARs motive, but they would never figure it went _this_ high.

"Excellent, then we are agreed, but we should not move too fast on this. We must instill the trust of the original seven before we can proceed with phase three," said another one of the silhouettes.

"You mean phase four," said Taylor, correcting him.

"Of course, my apologies…but, are you sure that phase three is a necessary step, Mister Bose? Those agents are valuable," he replied.

"I know, but unfortunately they are also a security risk," Taylor said, not wanting to think about that step of the project just yet.

"What of the Titans?" Asked another one of the figures.

"What of them?" Replied Taylor with his own question.

"Has your agent determined their suitability yet?"

"No, not yet. Keep in mind, gentlemen, the majority of my agents only arrived on their targets yesterday or the day before. The agent assigned to the Titan's is gathering vital information and has already learned a great deal more than we knew, but it will take more time," said Taylor in response to the question.

"Understood, Mister Bose. Keep us abreast of any new developments," said one of the figures.

"I will," said Taylor and with that the transmission cut out. Taylor was satisfied but somewhat agitated over the outcome. They did not want to act too swiftly and risk alerting the heroes, or the agents, of SOLARs true nature but they only had a limited amount of time before all parties involved would comprehend the scope of the monster they were in bed with.

Either way, the seeds had been sewn now and he had to let them germinate, or risk losing the entire crop.


	11. Chapter 11

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 11 – GHOSTS

1352hrs PST, Monday, 16 June  
Jump City – Titans Tower

Deckard looked out the large window of the living room, staring at the skyline of Jump City. He could see a boat off in the distance, heading away from him, probably to go and do some fishing. He still had the Jet Ski at his disposal but had not used it since he arrived over a week ago. _I should probably just go down and start it at least, need that fuel to stay fresh_ he thought to himself. Either that or he could just take it out for a spin since it was pretty much his anyway.

"What are you doing in here?" Robin said from behind him as Deckard turned to face the young teen. Although Deckard was taller and more muscular, he had no doubt that a fight with the young Boy Wonder would definitely land him some bruises, if not worse.

"Am I not allowed to be in this room?" Asked Deckard sarcastically.

"I'd feel better about you being here if you'd tell me why you're really here," Robin fired back, his gaze meeting Deckard's head on. If sparks could have shot between their eyes, they would have.

"You know I can't do that Robin," said Deckard, this time more sincerely than last. Initially he had tried giving the "I already told you" approach, but that went nowhere fast. Deckard figured that working with the Dark Knight for as long as he had, Robin could tell when a cop was giving up false information.

"I know you can't, but for the record, let's say I already knew. Would that make a difference?" Asked Robin.

"Knew what?"

"About you."

"Like what?" Deckard was intrigued now, but somewhat nervous. Even though the oldest person in the Tower was still four years younger than him, he felt as though he was getting grilled by his parents.

"You're twenty three, graduated early from Gotham State," he replied.

"You double majored in psychology and criminology," chimed in Cyborg who, along with the other Titans, had come into the living room and over to where the two were standing to see what all the fuss was about.

"You were a gold medalist on the karate team," said Beast Boy with a smile.

"The FBI selected you for employment immediately after you graduated," added Starfire.

"And you worked at a diner to support yourself while going to college," was the proverbial final nail in the coffin from Raven. Deckard was more amused than impressed.

"That's all well and good; Titans, but you could get that from a search engine on the Internet. All that's listed in my graduation announcement from two years ago," replied Deckard, hoping to squash any hope they had of holding information over him. Then, Robin began to speak again.

"I also know about your past. I know your father was a city cop and-"

"Don't go there!" Shouted Deckard, his finger pointed straight at Robin. The other Titans seemed to back away from him as Deckard turned to face Robin directly. "Being a fellow victim of tragedy I would think you'd understand why I don't talk about that…with anyone," said Deckard, his eyes beginning to water. The look on Robin's face seemed to sink when he realized he was trying to put out a match with a fire hose.

"You're right, I'm sorry Deckard," he said apologetically. He looked back up at Deckard, the resolved look returning to his face. "It just doesn't make sense why the Bureau would send someone with your credentials to be attached to us."

"Is that all you could come up with?" Asked Deckard, hoping that there was not anymore but curious as to see what it could be.

"No, there's one more thing-" Robin began only to be cut off. The alarm sounded and their attention turned to the monitor in the room. It appeared like a large disturbance was taking place down town, several of the electrical grids were going offline. The scanner in Deckard's hand then picked up JCPD dispatch.

"_All units in the vicinity, be advised, burglary in progress at DuCane Jewelry, intersection of Vine and Squire. Suspect is described as a white male wearing a black suit with a large light bulb on his chest. Units responding cover code three_," said the dispatcher over the airwaves.

"Doctor Light!" Exclaimed Beast Boy.

"Titans, move!" Shouted Robin, and they all began hustling towards the door with Deckard left standing by the window. As the door closed to the living room, Deckard felt a sense of failure come over him. It often hit him when someone brought up the subject of his father, who had been killed in a police shootout in Gotham when Deckard was just 13 years old. It had been almost ten years since his death and Deckard still had not been able to fully cope with it. To make matters worse, Deckard's mother had divorced his father when he was only five. She had not even bothered to come to the funeral. Deckard had since been on a quest to prove himself to anyone who would take him seriously, and perhaps that was why he ended up being a cop like his dad. To Deckard, he was keeping the memory of his dad alive by living out this life.

"C'mon man, let's move!" Said Cyborg from the open door interrupting Deckard's thoughts. Deckard headed for the door.

"Thought you guys wanted me to stay out of your business," said Deckard as they ran to the elevator.

"Look, you got a job to do, just like us, and even though we don't agree with it, I ain't gonna stop ya from doin' it," he said in response. They stopped in the elevator and began their descent to the Tower garage. Deckard was not quite sure if he should go grab the Jet Ski or just tag along with Cyborg. When the doors parted, Cyborg ran towards the T-Car with Deckard following at half speed trying to determine what to do. "Get in," he said.

"Get in the T-Car?"

"Yeah, unless you see any other cars around here," replied Cyborg.

"But we're on an island," said Deckard perplexed as he approached the vehicle.

"I know," and with that Cyborg started the engine. Robin was opting to fly with Starfire while BB and Raven had already strapped themselves into the backseat of the T-Car which automatically gave Deckard shotgun. Deckard climbed in and sat down in the seat, still unsure about the whole thing.

"All right Agent Deckard, strap yourself in and hang on," said Cyborg and he hit a switch on the dash and the car _lifted_ off the ground, then shot forward with a force so great it knocked Deckard back into the seat. Within seconds they were over the water, moving at a speed Deckard really would have rather not known. "All-terrain hover jets, installed 'em myself," boasted Cyborg with a childish smile.

"Right," was all Deckard could utter in reply. Between being half shocked and half amazed, Deckard was taking as many mental notes as possible.


	12. Chapter 12

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 12 – TROUBLE

1401hrs PST, Monday, 16 June  
Jump City – Vine and Squire

The T-Car skidded to a halt as Robin and Starfire landed next to it four seconds later. Beast Boy, Raven and Cyborg all exited the vehicle, leaving a still semi-amazed Deckard in the passenger seat. They looked around briefly before opting to move farther down Squire Street to see where the trouble was.

"All right Deckard, stay here and watch my baby," said Cyborg and with that the five Titans headed down the street towards a storefront that was being blasted by what appeared to be large, yellow beams of light. Deckard watched as the five heroes stopped just before they reached Doctor Light. Then, as he was looking around for something to enhance his view, he noticed Cyborg had left the keys in the steering column.

...

Doctor Light was so busy sacking his loot that he failed to notice the Titans approach him from the side.

"Lights out, Doctor Light," said Robin from a fighting stance. Beast Boy had morphed into a wolf while Cyborg had armed his trusty sonic cannon in his right arm. Raven and Starfire hovered above the boys in the classic double threat pose that they had become known for.

"Ah, yes, the Teen Titans. You're pathetic skills are no match for the brilliance of Doctor Light," he said as he charged his hands with two bolts of light. Before the Titans could react, he fired a large beam of light towards their ranks, forcing them to scatter in different directions.

Robin leaped forward towards the dim-witted maniac and so was the first to attack, throwing a bird-a-rang at Doctor Light in hopes of striking one of his arms. Unfortunately, the good doctor rolled forward before the weapon could make contact, and Robin landed directly on top of where it had struck the ground.

"You're fast, but I doubt you'll enjoy moving at light speed," retorted the doctor as he fired another burst of light beams from his arms. This burst hit Robin square in the chest and propelled him backwards into the store, hitting a jewelry case and smashing the glass. Lucky for him, his cape managed to prevent any glass shards from penetrating his skin. He looked as he saw Doctor Light turn to face his next threat; Beast Boy. Having morphed into a wolf, Garfield charged at Doctor Light and leaped at the last second, trying to get a hold of a limb or shoulder so that he could bring him to the ground. The doctor, however, saw the attack coming and simply stepped out of the way of Beast Boy's lunge. The wolf landed on its feet and began to circle back around in order to try it again, its jowls curled and its teeth bared, snarling angrily.

"I'm guessing you're not from the arctic, so you can't deal with a white out," rused the doctor as he threw a small metallic orb out in front of Beast Boy. The wolf looked at it for a second before it exploded in a ball of energy that caused BB to be blinded and change back to his human form, only to be grabbed by the light whip that Doctor Light used to throw him into the store next to Robin. The two Titans were trying to get back up, but their injuries were more extensive than they thought. "Two down, three to go," counted the doctor.

Now Starfire came in and attempted to thwart Doctor Light, firing star bolts as she flew towards him at speed. She lowered her altitude until she was only mere feet off the ground, her eyes glowing neon green and star bolts flying from her palms. Doctor Light shielded himself from this attack and as she grew closer, he did not move. Starfire decided that perhaps the best course of action was to hit him physically, so she outstretched both her hands and was ready to hit Doctor light when he suddenly jumped to the left, out of her way and putting her on a collision course with Robin and Beast Boy, still in the store.

"Dude!" Exclaimed Beast Boy, who changed into a rhinoceros to protect Robin from the incoming out-of-control Tamaranian. The force of the impact pushed all three of them to the back of the store with Beast Boy causing more damage than initially done by Doctor Light himself. All three of them were now dazed, confused and still trying to make out how Doctor Light was beating them.

"It seems that you're all burned out," retorted Doctor Light.

"Not yet," said Cyborg and he fired his sonic cannon. The blast hit Doctor Light square in the chest and knocked him backwards towards the now gaping hole in the jewelry store.

"Now, now, what I did I tell you about turning that up too loud," he said as he reached out and grabbed Cyborg with the light whip. The whip wrapped itself around Cyborg's arm and before he could fight back Doctor Light pulled Cyborg towards him, striking him with a blow to the back before finally blasting him into the store with a shot from his left arm. The other three Titans were again knocked down by Cyborg crashing into them, the frustration building within.

"This ends now," said Raven, her eyes awash with white and her hands covered with dark energy. "Azarath Metrion Zin-" She stopped short as another blast from Doctor Light hit her square in the torso, knocking her to the street. Before she could get up he grabbed her by the neck and tossed her to where the other Titans lay recovering, ready to attack en masse.

"I've waited a long time for this," he said as he raised his right hand. The band of energy that emanated from it engulfed all five of the Titans and levitated them off the ground; a stasis field. "Now that I have you, I'm going to destroy you," he said as evil as someone of Doctor Light's caliber could successfully do so. The Titans attempted to struggle but the stasis field held them in place, unable to move any portion of their bodies. The electrical charge within the field began to rise as Doctor Light tried to draw more power from his suit, but realized with his current situation he would need more. He began to step backwards, out into the street again to harness the electricity from the nearby streetlights, all the while keeping the Titans in stasis. "This will all be over with in a minute, my dear Titans," he said and then laughed manically.

...

Deckard watched as he saw the Titans being held in mid air by some kind of energy field. Quickly he looked over the dash of the T-Car in a frantic search for some kind of weapons console or control switch. When he was unable to locate one readily he took the next logical course of action; he turned the key to start the vehicle. With the motor running he pumped the accelerator, engaged the clutch and dropped the T-Car into first gear and applied the gas. The car surged forward and Deckard found himself needing to up shift to second gear before he thought it necessary. The distance now closing between himself and Doctor Light, he resumed his search for a weapon and finally located a switch near the cup holder labeled "PROTON CANNON" and hit the button. Suddenly the windshield displayed a green box on the driver side and began to search for a suitable target. He heard a whirring sound above and behind him and looked back to see the roof part and a large cylindrical device protrude out of the back of the car from behind the passenger seats. Its ascent stopped when it was fully outside of the car, above the roofline.

Deckard shifted up again to third gear, now traveling close to 70 miles per hour and closing the distance between the speeding T-Car and Doctor Light. He almost failed to notice that the box had turned red when it acquired Doctor Light within it and now had to look for a button or switch to fire the cannon. The distance between the car and Doctor Light was growing shorter by the second and unless he could find the fire control he was either going to run him over or crash into something less soft, like the large slab of concrete that was directly behind the Doctor. Frantically, with one hand on the steering wheel, Deckard scanned the dash, the console and the instruments until he moved his right hand and found a steering wheel mounted button labeled "FIRE." Without another moments hesitation he smashed the button with his thumb. A high pitched whine began to come from the cylinder as the cannon built up a charge before finally discharging a beam of proton energy directly at Doctor Light. Deckard watched as the beam struck him dead center, knocking him to the ground, and then realized he was still traveling at 70 miles per hour and only had seconds to change course.

...

The proton burst hit Doctor Light square on the left side of his torso, throwing him a good 500 feet from where he had been in front of the store. The stasis field he was generating stopped as soon as he was hit and the Titans landed on the ground, thankful but perplexed at the same time.

"Come on!" Exclaimed Robin as he ran towards the hole created by Doctor Light and the flying rhinoceros. The Titans looked on as the T-Car, driven by Deckard, screamed past them at a speed which was entirely to fast. Cyborg watched as his baby was about to splatter Doctor Light into a multitude of smaller pieces.

...

Deckard had three choices; run over Doctor Light and crash into the concrete slab behind him, jump out of the car and still run over the Doctor or try to save the car and possibly get killed in the process. Without another thought he dropped the T-Car into second gear and tapped the brakes, the speed dropping from 70 and sending the needle plummeting downwards. Deckard whipped the steering wheel to the right as he pulled up on the e-brake and hoped the training on the skid pad at the Academy was worth remembering.

...

Cyborg watched as the T-Car careened towards Doctor Light at close to 55 before it began to slide to the right. He continued to watch as the rear of the car fishtailed out and barely missed Doctor Light and it whipped past, the front of the vehicle now coming about in a wicked spin. The tires squealed like pigs before the slaughter on the dry pavement. When it finally stopped, the T-Car had made a turn over 180 degrees with the front end pointed directly at the Doctor, the proton cannon still visible above the roofline. There was not a scratch to be seen on the car, _anywhere_. Cyborg was speechless. He watched as the driver door opened and Deckard stepped out, the look on his face somewhere between amazement and fear, the adrenaline still fresh in his system.

"Whoa, dude, how come you can't drive like that?" Asked Beast Boy, not missing a beat. Cyborg glared at him menacingly, though he had to admit, that was a pretty awesome display of driving skill.

"I _can_ drive like that, I just don't like to put the transmission through that kind of abuse," he replied. The other Titans looked back at him, not knowing whether Cyborg was trying to evade the question or being truthful. They walked over to where Doctor Light was know curled in the fetal position on the ground, his suit sparking and his face sullen.

"I thought there were only five of you," he said questioningly. Robin smirked at him.

"There are, that was our new FBI liaison in the T-Car," he replied.

"FBI?" Asked Doctor Light.

"Yeah, your wattage must be getting pretty low if the regular cops can take you down now, dude," interjected Beast Boy as he pulled Doctor Light up by the shoulder. Without another word Doctor Light simply hung his head in defeat as he always did when the Titans apprehended him.

"The police are on their way, so just sit tight," said Cyborg as Deckard approached him from behind.

"Cyborg, that car is…wow," was all Deckard could say. The look Cyborg gave him was first cold and callous but eventually he broke a smile.

"That was some pretty sweet driving there, Dee," he replied. He held out his fist for the ceremonial fist bump. Deckard was unsure if he should but decided to go with it and returned the motion, hitting his fist atop Cyborgs' own clenched digits.

"Thanks Cyborg. Hopefully I won't have to do that again," replied Deckard. He looked over at the other Titans and the now extinguished Doctor Light. "Did you say the police are on the way?" He asked.

"Yeah, why?" Asked Robin.

"I've arranged special transport for him according to new procedures," said Deckard, which seemed to catch Robin off guard.

"What do you mean special transport?"

"New mandate from the Department of Justice, any villain apprehended after perpetrating or committing a crime is to be transported to an undisclosed facility for treatment," said Deckard. That caught his and Doctor Light's attention.

"Undisclosed location? You're going to make me disappear?" He asked worriedly.

"Quiet," said Raven as she looked at him with glowing white eyes.

"Yes ma'am," was all that came out of his mouth.

"What sort of treatment?" Asked Robin, now curious as to where Doctor Light was going.

"Whatever is deemed necessary to alleviate their condition," said Deckard in response.

"Are you sure about that?"

"I'll show you the memorandum I received when we get back to the Tower," said Deckard. The assurance seemed to, outwardly, satisfy Robin. As to the fate that awaited Doctor Light, not even Deckard was really sure what would happen.


	13. Chapter 13

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 13 – TRANSFER

2347hrs EST, Wednesday, 18 June  
Gotham City – Police Department

Commissioner Jim Gordon entered his office and hung his coat on the rack next to the door. He slowly ran his right hand through his snow white hair and turned to feel the cold breeze from outside blow across his face. As he approached his desk, he pulled on his tie with his left arm, loosening it so that he could get more comfortable. He adjusted his glasses as he sat down, moving them farther up on the bridge of his nose. He sat back and just elected to feel the breeze come through the window, until he remembered that he _had not_ left the window open, which only meant one thing.

"I've got some questions," came a voice from the shadows. By this point in his career, Commissioner Gordon was not at all startled by the fact that Batman made his office a place to discuss information. Gordon would rather do it here than anywhere else.

"That's unusual," Gordon replied, which was true. Normally he asked the questions.

"I saw the reports that almost everyone in Arkham is being transferred to a more advanced facility," said Batman.

"That's the word. You're not worried about losing your job, are you?" Asked the Commissioner jokingly, but the Dark Knight simply ignored the question.

"Why?"

"Can't help you there, my friend. I was informed by our FBI liaison that it's a new Justice Department initiative," replied the Commissioner as he took a sip of his now cold coffee.

"So it would seem," said Batman coldly.

"What do you mean?" Replied the Commissioner with his own question.

"A few weeks ago, federal agents began tailing certain members of the League, first covertly, then attaching themselves openly as part of a new federal program," Batman responded.

"That's always the usual story. They stick one to you?" Gordon asked.

"Yes," he said.

"What happened to – wait, that guy on the crane?" The Dark Knight simply stood silent. "I don't know why I'm surprised. So you think this transfer from Arkham has something to do with these agents following you guys?"

"There's too much coincidence for there not to be a connection, I just have to find it," said Batman. He watched as Gordon turned to take another sip of his coffee.

"Well, let me know if you need anything else. I'll keep my ears open in case anything new comes up. But the next time someone's following you, you think you could-" he turned back to see nothing but the blinds swaying to the breeze coming through the window. "Never mind," said Gordon.


	14. Chapter 14

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 14 – EAVESDROPPING

2125hrs PST, Wednesday, 18 June  
Jump City – Titans Tower

Deckard flung the towel over his shoulder as he walked down the hall to his room. He opted to work out late today since he had been up until the early hours of the morning working on updating the Titans profiles on the SOLAR database. He had not spoken with Taylor in over a week but did not really believe it was necessary to bother his boss with such trivial information. Besides, he was beginning to get accustom to working on his own, well, almost on his own. The fact that the Titans seemed to distance themselves from him whenever possible was starting to make his job more difficult, but he remained optimistic that he could win them over simply by being as honest as he could while still keeping SOLAR in the dark.

As he passed by the door to the living room, he could hear the Titans talking. He stopped momentarily so as to hear what they were saying, which was fortunate, because the conversation happened to be about him.

"He's dangerous." That sounded like Robin, although it was hard to hear from behind the door. Slowly Deckard strained to try and better understand what was being said.

"Yeah, to the same people who think we're dangerous." That was Beast Boy, which surprised him. Deckard felt the only person he had really made an impression on was Cyborg, and that was only due in part to his driving abilities.

"Either way, he's still dangerous." Deckard could now say for certain that was Robin; there was no mistaking the tone of his voice.

"Hey man, he helped us switch off Doctor Light, maybe permanently." There was Cyborg, taking the side of Beast Boy. Deckard couldn't believe it; he had the support of at least two of them now.

"That's what I'm worried about." Said Robin, so faint that Deckard could barely make it out.

"So what do you propose we do about Agent Deckard?" That was Starfire, who was also contributing to the discussion. Deckard wondered if the entire team was sitting in on this. He was interested as to what Raven thought, and not just because he was curious. Over the last two weeks he had developed a bit of a crush on the girl, though he would never admit to it. Still, his curiosity was begging to be fulfilled.

"We should call him. He'll want to know about what happened-" A cough from behind Deckard got his attention. He turned around to see Raven with her hood up, her cloak covering her body but her gaze was staring straight at him.

"Don't you need a warrant before you listen in on others conversations?" She asked without any detectable emotion in her voice. Deckard knew that to try and get out of this was futile, so he just opted to cop to it. He had been caught in the act, so there was no denying it.

"Only for a wire tap. Hearsay doesn't fall under that statute," he replied. Her expression didn't waver at all. Instead she walked up to the door that led to the living room and forced it open, revealing her and Deckard to the room and the other Titans.

"Raven, what's wrong?" Asked Beast Boy.

"Seems our guest couldn't resist eavesdropping in on your conversation," she replied, her eyes shifting left towards the direction of Deckard though he was unable see it from where she was standing.

"Is this true, Deckard?" Asked Robin who stood up to pose the question.

"Yes, actually. I just want to find out why you're being so hostile towards me, avoiding me at every possible moment until the alarm goes off," said Deckard. The sweat from his brow was beginning to run down his face and he wiped it with the towel. Most of it was from working out, but he could feel the anxiousness within him rise as he stood his ground.

"I can't comprehend how you can't understand. You show up here, unannounced, and turn into our live-in parole officer. You know more about us than you're letting on, then you have Doctor Light transported somewhere that you can't tell me or even where it is, and you expect me to just act like everything is status quo?" Asked Robin, the tone in his voice rampant with agitation. The other Titans looked on at Deckard.

"Not to mention eavesdropping in on conversations that don't involve you," Beast Boy chimed in. Deckard was about to reply when the screen in the living room burst to life, slowly materializing into the image of a figure, dressed in black, sitting at a computer.

"Robin," he said.

"Hang on one second," he replied and he turned to look at Deckard. "You need to leave. Cyborg, escort him out," ordered Robin without hesitation.

"You got it. C'mon Dee, let's go," said Cyborg as he walked towards him. He waited until Deckard turned on his own before following him up the stairs to the door. Once Deckard walked through them, Cyborg made sure he got to the end of the hallway before he re-entered the room. "We're clear," he assured Robin. With that, the Boy Wonder turned to face his former partner.

"What have you got?"

"Was that your agent?" Asked Batman.

"Yeah, unfortunately. Did you find out anything new on SOLAR?" Asked Robin with somewhat baited breath. He was beginning to wonder what exactly was involved in this whole mess with SOLAR.

"Three days ago there was a transfer of prisoners from Arkham to an unspecified location," said Batman stoically, trying to parry anything about SOLAR away from Robin.

"How many?" Asked Robin.

"Almost all of them," Batman answered.

"That's coincidence. We had a battle with Doctor Light two days ago and Deckard had him transported to an unspecified facility for further treatment," said Robin. To this, Batman seemed to take interest.

"I've heard the same thing from Superman and Flash. Seems like the Justice Department is taking interest in each of our rogues galleries," said Batman.

"Any idea why?" Asked Robin in return.

"Not sure yet, something is missing. I'll keep you posted," he said.

"Wait. I think that Deckard knows we suspect something. Should we confront him on it?" Asked Robin. Batman simply stared at him.

"On what?"

"SOLAR. Maybe this is all related to it. There's got to be a connection and if Deckard can give us any clues it could help solve this faster," said Robin. Batman remained quiet for a moment, his features like a gargoyle in the night. There was a long pause before he answered.

"Do what you think you should, just realize that however big this thing is, it could all come crashing down if we go digging away at the supports," he replied.

"Understood. If I find anything else, I'll call you," said Robin. With that the screen blacked out and Robin turned to face the other Titans. "Let's go talk to Deckard," said Robin and with that he headed for the door with the other Titans right behind him.

...

Deckard removed the headset from his ear and placed it on the desk. The conversation must have been quick because he was unable to catch all of it. He did hear the portion about Arkham and the transfers, however, which caught his attention. He thought that was unusual, especially since Doctor Light was now most likely on his way to the same facility that most of the other villains were transported to. This facility was also beginning to peak his curiosity as to who exactly was to be "treated" there and where precisely it was. He opted to remain seated at the desk and log into the SOLAR database rather than act like nothing happened. Obviously the Titans were aware of its existence, as was Batman, but even acknowledging the program was a huge breech of protocol. Deckard was determined to prove that they had nothing to fear from the project, however, and was willing to forgo protocol for the moment in order to show them.

The door slid open and the five figures walked in unannounced. Deckard watched as first Beast Boy and Star, followed by Cyborg, and finally Raven and Robin situated themselves in the room. Deckard looked on without getting up or speaking to any of them.

"We know about SOLAR," said Robin. Deckard did not flinch or show any reaction, which was getting harder and harder to do.

"You mean you know of it," he corrected him. Deckard was not going to give Robin an inch.

"I don't have time for this," said Robin, his brow furrowing and his eyes squinting. Deckard could tell he was angry.

"Then I suggest you leave," Deckard replied.

"You first," Robin fired back.

"You know about SOLAR, then tell me and I'll let you know if you're on the right track," said Deckard. He did not think he could turn this around on someone like Robin but with his current level of agitation, he might not be thinking straight.

"I know you're here to gather intelligence on us, how you're supposed to observe us in and out of action. I know that agents were attached to members of the Justice League long before you got here and only recently started following them openly. I also know that three days ago, virtually all of the criminals in Arkham were transferred to a new, undisclosed treatment facility. The same thing also happened in Metropolis, Central City and here," said Robin. Deckard was impressed with the kid. Whether his information was from the Dark Knight or from his own findings, Robin had a knack for gathering intelligence.

"And how would you know that?" Deckard asked coyly.

"I checked in with Jump City Police. Cinderblock, Plasmus and Overload were all transferred, as was Doctor Light. I want to know why!" Said Robin, this time as close to yelling as his voice would allow. Deckard could see the kid was becoming more agitated, but decided to push his buttons anyway.

"You do…or _he_ does?" Asked Deckard putting the emphasis on the he in that question.

"That's irrelevant," Robin snapped.

"I find that hard to believe, Robin. Even when you're off on your own you're still doing his dirty work," said Deckard. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Robin began to step towards Deckard until Cyborg put his left arm out to block his friend from tearing Deckard a new orifice.

"Enough!" Exclaimed Cyborg, the tension in the room heavy enough that someone could be buried under it. "OK Dee, give me one good reason why I shouldn't let my boy here go Robin on your butt?" Asked Cyborg. Deckard could see that Robin was intent upon his kill and had already told himself to hell with protocol. He figured he'd give it a shot.

"OK Titans, you wanted it, here it is. SOLAR was put into place three years ago to act as a watchdog group, that much is true. However, another facet of the program was instigated to track each of the villains that are your nemeses. When SOLAR was authorized to begin tailing the League they also began to monitor as many villains as possible," said Deckard. He watched as the anger suddenly left Robin as quickly as it had built up and Cyborg lowered his arm.

"Why?" Asked Raven from the corner.

"That I don't have an answer for, unfortunately. Frees you guys up to work with more kids, maybe? I don't know," answered Deckard.

"Could you find out why?" Asked Cyborg, now just as curious as the rest of the team.

"I could, the question is do I want to," replied Deckard, but the truth was he wanted to know himself.

"Why wouldn't you?" Asked Robin.

"Protocol," said Deckard, knowing he should not have said it as soon as the word left his mouth.

"Protocol? Didn't you just break protocol by telling us that SOLAR exists?" Robin had snared him just as quickly had Deckard had trapped him earlier. He was caught, again, with no way out.

"Yeah, I did," Deckard said disbelievingly. Now he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"How could you find out the real reason for moving the villains?" Asked Cyborg, trying to pacify the uneasiness in the room.

"I'd have to call my direct supervisor," said Deckard.

"Look, if you do that and we get the answer, I promise we'll let you do your job without anymore animosity or obstruction," Cyborg said, the sincerity in his voice conveying a sense of contentment in Deckard. Slowly, Deckard turned to face his laptop and opened the window to the SOLAR database.

"You know, technically, you should do that anyway. It's a federal mandate," he said. Robin approached from behind him.

"Maybe you haven't noticed, but we don't care much for federal mandates," Robin replied.

"Yeah, I can see that. Jeez, make yourselves scarce already, and don't make any noise. Who knows what'll happen to me if they find out you guys are listening in on this conversation," said Deckard, somewhat disgruntled. He selected the proper link from the dropdown, typed in Taylor's vidlink access number and waited. When the screen opened, however, someone else appeared on the monitor.

"Agent Radford, how can I help you Agent Deckard?" He asked.

"Looking for Taylor, Radford," replied Deckard.

"He's out of the office until Monday, try him back then," said Radford.

"No cell?"

"Out of contact, sorry Deckard," said Radford again.

"Thanks," said Deckard and he killed the link. "Guess you'll just have to wait, although that's odd for Taylor to leave the office unexpectedly. He hardly ever leaves Washington for anything, and even when he does he always has his cell on him."

"Any reason you can think of?" Asked Robin.

"Some kind of emergency, maybe? I honestly couldn't tell you," said Deckard, perplexed by his superiors absence.

"All right, Monday then. We talk to him Monday," said Robin and with that he left the room, Cyborg, Star and BB following him out. Deckard went back to looking at his computer screen and almost failed to notice Raven still standing in the corner.

"If you're waiting for me to do anything else that might get me in trouble, I'm afraid you're wasting your time," he said without looking back.

"You got yourself in trouble, I just caught you," she said. She had a point. He shifted his position in the chair to look in her direction. Her hood was down, which was a good sign.

"Yeah, you're right, so do you mind telling me why you're still here?" He asked. She stared at him for a moment longer.

"I sense a conflict within you, one that has been brewing for some time," she said. This scared Deckard, even though he knew she was an empath, she was not able to look that deeply into him, was she?

"I think it's time for you to go. I have some work to do and need to sleep," he said and stood up. She took the hint and walked to the door but stopped before she stepped out into the hallway. She turned and glanced over her shoulder at him, looking out of the corner of her eye.

"You cannot hide from it forever, you know. In the end, one side will win out over the other," she said and with that she left his room in darkness save the soft glow of the laptop screen. Deckard collapsed on the bed, physically and mentally drained and emotionally torn.


	15. Chapter 15

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 15 – LUNA SOL

1258hrs MST, Friday, 20 June  
Undisclosed Location – SOLAR "Treatment" Facility

The motorcade approached what appeared to be a military operating area in the middle of the forest. The road leading up to the gate from the helipad was lined by pine trees and vigorous underbrush that would make any hike through them arduous for even the most experienced woodsman. The gate was a chain-link fence with a single guard shack off to the right. The top of it was adorned with double strands of razor wire that went the entire length of the fence, but the most unnerving thing about the area was what lay beyond the gate; nothing. No trees, no vegetation, nothing but barren moonscape once the motorcade passed this first checkpoint and continued to follow the only road into the facility.

The complex was set up in five concentric squares outlined by fences, separated by a half-mile between each fence line. All the fences were topped by double strands of razor wire, were electrified and went below ground a full six feet in addition to the twelve that was visible above ground. A sally port at each fence line allowed vehicles coming down the road to securely transit between checkpoints. Between the second and third fence line was a mine field, scattered with thousands of high explosive and anti-personnel munitions. Guard towers were only on the first three sets of fences, after that they were replaced with the unblinking eyes of security cameras equipped with Forward Looking Infra Red (FLIR) and thermal imaging equipment. This was, by far, one of the most secured and technologically advanced facilities in the nation; and no one knew it existed.

Well, that was not entirely true. Taylor had to come up with an explanation when the installation appeared on satellite photos of foreign governments. With the right amount of money, however, any questions to the facilities existence disappeared as quickly as they had arisen, which was all the more beneficial to him and SOLAR. Taylor relished the fact that millions of taxpayer dollars had been funneled into black projects like SOLAR and no one was the wiser. The money simply was put to use, without any questions or concerns. He was told to spare no expense and use however much was needed to make the project bear fruit, and he made sure he followed those instructions to a tee.

He smiled as he gazed out the window of the black SUV as the motorcade approached the main facility, having passed through the last checkpoint on the way into its heart. Three years of work now filled his eyes in the form of this wondrous facility. The vehicles eventually stopped in front of the main entrance and guards walked forward to open the doors for the delegation. Taylor exited the vehicle and briskly walked up the small flight of stairs to the double door entrance, the guards holding them open for him. Normally they required keycard access, but to save time, the security had been disabled for their entry. The main lobby was rather small for such a grandiose building, with two large metal doors on either side. Taylor and the delegation were escorted to the door on the right where they were met by a young man who was the epitome of ex-military.

"Good afternoon, Mister Bose. Are you ready to see the facility?" He asked.

"Of course," replied Taylor and with that the guard utilized the retinal scanner next to the door to open it. The group proceeded down the hall to a large elevator where Taylor signaled for the group to stop. He had some words that he wanted to share with his posse before they went any further.

"Gentlemen, before we descend into the depths of hell, I'd like to share with you these words. SOLAR is not just a project, it is an answer. An answer to the question of 'can humanity survive without superheroes?' I've always believed the answer to be yes, but the bigger question then became how we could do such a thing. When I first proposed SOLAR I met stiff resistance, but after _persuading_ those individuals to see the error of their ways, I was able to construct what you see here today. Come now and witness how SOLAR is going to revolutionize what it means to be human again," said Taylor triumphantly. His words seemed to resonate with the group.

Almost as if on cue the elevator doors parted and the delegation stepped inside. Once the doors closed the elevator began its descent downwards, taking almost a full minute to reach its destination. Taylor was not about to tell the group that they were now over 200 feet below ground, with the only access point being the elevator they were standing in. When the doors opened they were greeted by two black suited figures wearing full body armor, motorcycle-style helmets and armed with very long staffs that looked like stun batons. The prongs at the end of the staffs were intimidating enough, let alone the individuals who handled them.

"The guards here are all either prior military or former corrections officers, highly trained in hand-to-hand combat and armed with an arsenal of less-than-lethal apparatuses. The most prominent, as you can see, is the stun staff, capable of emitting a shock up to two hundred thousand volts of electricity. They are also equipped with tasers, chemical agents and a number of audio visual disruptors," said Taylor proudly.

"Audio visual disruptors?" Asked one of the members of the delegation.

"Flash bangs," said Taylor, irritated that he had to dumb it down in order for him to understand it. They approached the end of the hallway and were stopped by another two sentinels standing at the entrance. Once Taylor verified his ID as Mr. Adrian Bose, they allowed him to pass through with his group. This led to another set of doors, which when opened revealed a huge octagonal room. The large octagon was tiered three levels high with their point of view being centered between the floor and ceiling. Each side of the octagon, save the one with the control booth, had five doors on each level totaling 105 doors in the room.

"This is cellblock Luna, where all our miscreants are currently being held. They are allowed ten minutes for each meal given every five hours. They otherwise remain in solitary confinement for the remainder of the time and have no interaction with the other inmates," said Taylor.

"No contact at all?" Asked another person in the delegation. Taylor turned to face the questioner.

"_None_," said Taylor emphatically.

"What of the impact on their psyche, Mister Bose? Has that aspect of your treatment been evaluated?" Asked the man who Taylor was guessing had to be a doctor or psychiatrist.

"Their psyche? Don't tell me that you're feeling sympathetic towards this scum. They are all either psychotic, disillusioned or suffer from some disorder or complex that makes them a threat to themselves and anyone else around them. They don't deserve any more sympathy than a dead animal on the side of the road!" Said Taylor angrily, his face having turned beat red from all the blood rushing to it. The doctor, or whoever he was, backed into another suit behind him, the look on his face admitting to Taylor that his statement was made in error. Taylor was still glaring at him when a guard placed his hand on Taylors' shoulder and pulled backwards slightly.

"Sir, they're bringing the last group in from Arkham now," said the guard.

"Good," said Taylor as he shrugged the guards hand off him. The group watched from the control room as a parade of grey pajama-wearing individuals appeared in the center of the octagon having walked there from underneath where their unseen observers were standing. The faces of villains like the Joker, Two-Face, Poison Ivy and Penguin were easily identifiable even from the height of the room in which the delegation stood. Taylor cracked a sinister smile and hit a button on one of the panels. "Glad to see you're all making yourselves at home since you'll be here for a good, long time," he said menacingly. He watched as none of the subjects looked up at where the broadcast had come from, and with good reason. The electrical burns on their jumpsuits were a testament to the brutality of the guards below. Taylor had instructed them to be "unforgiving" in their treatment of the detained and the guards were more than happy to oblige. The initial reports Taylor had received stated that the prisoners were being "highly combative." _It's amazing_, he thought, _what a little beating and electricity can do_.

He turned to face the group of G-men behind him. "Well, gentlemen, as you can see, phase two of the project is now, officially, complete."

"And what of the heroes? Are their cells better suited to hold such unique individuals?" Asked a dark suited man. Taylor frowned; this extravagant display and they still had doubts.

"Of course they are. If you're worried about the Kryptonians we've taken the liberty to coat all their cells in a fine Kryptonite dust as well as install rods of pure kryptonite around the holding tables should they try to resist. The amount of steel, hydraulics and electrical restraint devices in place in cell block Sol is more than enough to hold everyone in the Justice League and whoever else we can bring into this facility. I assure you friends, this facility is more than adequate to hold these…_unique_ individuals," said Taylor, unable to hide the sinister smile from showing on his face. "The only way into this facility is by air and all the vehicles are kept at the helipad outside the outer-most perimeter fence. Our air defense systems are state of the art and it's a three day walk on foot to the nearest signs of civilization. This facility is perfect for the task at hand," he said hammering what he believed to be the proverbial final nail in the coffin on any other remaining doubts.

Outwardly, all the individuals in the delegation seemed to be satisfied. "And what of the next phase of the project, Mister Bose? Is it absolutely necessary that we go through with it?" Asked the dark suited man again, and this time Taylor was not so enthusiastic to answer. He lowered his head and sighed before looking back to tell these individuals what had to be done in order to protect the project.

"I wish it didn't have to come to this, but it must. Our agents in the field have provided an invaluable service to my…_our_ cause. However, in the course of that service they have, unfortunately, become a…liability."


	16. Chapter 16

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 16 – UNVEILED

0834hrs PST, Monday, 23 June  
Jump City – Titans Tower

Deckard had opted to skip out on breakfast this morning, not like he really had much of an appetite anyway. His main reason was that he did not really want to see any of the Titans after what had occurred on Wednesday night. He spent the next few days cleaning his pistol, riding the Jet Ski into port and cruising the streets of Jump City in the Crown Vic. He was tempted to not go back to the Tower but decided it would be better to be there in the event someone, mainly Taylor, called. He utilized Sunday to get done filing more updates on the Titans profiles in the database and tried to call his friend Kenwood, the one who was unwillingly tied up in Gotham trying to follow the dear Dark Knight, but the number kept coming back disconnected. Once all of his updates were completed, Deckard had opted to work out most of the day and then take a tour of the Evidence Room. To say that there were some interesting devices and gadgets within the Tower was an understatement.

Right now though, Deckard was still debating whether having Taylor admit to the SOLAR projects purpose with the Titans present was the right thing to do. Frankly, he was curious himself, but he hated the fact that he was breaching protocol to do it, regardless of whether the Titans knew about SOLAR already or not. The entire world knew Area 51 existed, yet the US Government _still_ denied its existence, despite the spy satellite photos _proving_ it was there. Deckard stared blankly into the LCD screen of his laptop, the SOLAR database open and the active communication window selected. All he had to do was type in Taylors' vidlink ID number and he would be connected.

Almost as if they knew what he was thinking, the door to his room opened and the five-some lazily walked in. Even though it was only 8:30, Deckard had noticed that the majority of them did not wake up until sometime after 9:00 or 9:30. Raven or Robin was usually the first one awake on any given day. For this particular situation, however, Robin must have felt it necessary for the entire echelon to be present, despite the fact that Beast Boy was still half asleep when he staggered into the room. Deckard, still wearing gym shorts and a spandex shirt from his morning workout, adjusted the laptop so the angle of the camera would not show the other five bodies in the room.

"Are you ready?" Asked Robin coolly. Deckard simply nodded his head, typed in the vidlink ID number and watched as the connection established itself. In just a little over a minute Taylors' face appeared on the screen.

"Deckard, how are you?" He said cheerfully. Deckard was not in the same mindset, unfortunately.

"Sir, I have some concerns," said Deckard, so monotone that he almost sounded like a male version of Raven.

"Deckard, I told you not to worry-"

"Sir, the Titans know about SOLAR," said Deckard, cutting him off. "I was walking past the living room the other day and overheard them talking about it. I wasn't able to determine exactly what they know or how they came to find out but they know it's the reason why I'm here. They also know about Doctor Light being transferred to the same institution as the villains who were transferred from Arkham, which I wasn't even aware of. What's going on, sir?" Asked Deckard as he looked at the expression on Taylor's face change from a smile to a sullen, hard, stone cold stare as he placed his hands over his mouth and sighed.

"This connection is secure?" He asked.

"Yes, sir. I triple checked the encryption and swept the room for bugs per standard procedure before contacting you," said Deckard trying to hide the lie. He could not have had any bigger bugs in the room than the five who were standing just off camera. He looked on as Taylor brought his hands down to the table in front of him.

"Deckard, have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a world where the only real heroes are humans, like you and me?" Asked Taylor. That was an awkward question, and Deckard answered it as if it were.

"Uh, no sir, I can't say that I have," replied Deckard, who was confused.

"Think about it Deckard. No Superman, no Batman, no Wonder Woman, just normal people doing extraordinary things," Taylor said, who by this point was beginning to worry Deckard.

"It's a nice thought, but what has that got to do with-"

"SOLAR isn't just a project Deckard, it's a solution," interrupted Taylor. "A solution allowing us, the normal humans, to be the heroes once again. No more battles between superheroes and super villains, only between the lawful and the lawless."

"Then what's the reasoning behind why the villains were transferred out of their current facilities?" Asked Deckard, who at this point was more than curious as to what Taylor was talking about.

"The universe is about balance, dear boy. Black and white, action and reaction, good and evil. If we take away the evil, all we are left with is the good. By removing the problem we are only left with the solution," said Taylor. Deckard still did not quite understand what he meant by that, as it only presented another question.

"If the villains are gone then, what about the Justice League? Or the Titans? They'll still be around, they just won't have any nemeses to fight anymore. How does that solve the problem?" He asked.

"It doesn't. Yes, our caped miscreants will still be capable of doing good, until they become a problem themselves," said Taylor as devoid of sympathy as Deckard had ever heard any human being sound. "You see, Deckard, the damages these so called 'heroes' create has to be paid for by someone, normally the government. If the heroes are no longer needed, all that money can be used to hire more street cops, equip departments with more technology and come down harder on crime. To me, that's a better use of resources than having to rebuild the same apartment complex three times because of some nutcase dressing up in tights having to destroy it to stop their nemesis," said Taylor with a hint of agitation in his voice.

"Then, what's the solution, sir?" Asked Deckard.

"The solution is the same, Deckard. Don't you get it? We cannot remove one plague while allowing another to go untreated. That is why the heroes will be interred just like their counterparts," said Taylor callously. Deckard was stunned.

"Sir, isn't that a little extreme? Why not just let them keep doing their jobs? Or let them retire. What's the point of locking them away?" Asked Deckard feverishly but trying to keep himself composed. "Why not just tell them that they could stop being heroes? Haven't they contributed enough to society that they've earned that right to just fade away instead of locking them up?" Asked Deckard. Taylor looked displeased at the question.

"Unfortunately, their overwhelming compulsion to do good and help society would still be a hindrance to our efforts. Remember, Deckard, humanity hasn't always had these heroes. This is merely a phase that our species is going through, this infatuation with super beings from other worlds. Once humanity realizes that we can move forward without them, they will pass into the pages of history," said Taylor. Deckard figured that he better end the conversation at this point since he had heard way more than he had bargained for.

"Well sir, what do you propose I tell the Titans?" Asked Deckard quickly.

"Tell them what you think they'll want to hear. At least you know what you have to work with. You've done a splendid job keeping them off track so far, so you'll figure it out, I'm sure. By the way, I'm sending an agent to relieve you, she should be there within the next two days," said Taylor. If Deckard was surprised before, now he was really taken aback.

"Do you mind me asking why, sir?"

"I received word that the Gotham Office is missing their prodigal coffee technician. They want you back, have a couple of cases waiting for you," said Taylor. Deckard was unsure what to say. "Fill in your replacement when she gets there with everything you've got. I'll make sure she takes care of everything else," said Taylor, the sinisterly wicked grin now appearing on his face again.

"Sure thing, sir, I'll make sure I make the necessary preparations," said Deckard and with that the vidlink cut out. Deckard exited the active communication window but kept the database up. The silence in the room might as well have been a coffin because Deckard was sure that once he turned around he would be dead. Not wanting to face that prospect, he placed his hands behind his head and leaned forward until his elbows hit the desk, his eyes shut. He could not believe what he was doing.

"I…I don't know…what to say," he said. He knew the Titans were still behind him, watching him like a pack of wolves eying an injured deer. He could not believe that this, the last six months of his life, had been to help propagate a project as inherently evil as SOLAR. It was wrong, Deckard knew it, but there was nothing that he could do to stop what was happening. If his father were alive and knew what he had gotten himself into, he would never forgive him. Deckard had sworn to preserve the dignity and respect of all individuals, to discharge his duties with integrity and would protect the lives of others at the cost of his own.

Slowly Deckard rose from the desk chair, pushing it backwards. He looked off to the left and began walking towards the wardrobe in the corner, ignoring the Titans completely. He opened the door, almost stepping inside it, and removed the HK 45 from its holster. Slowly he positioned it against his torso so the Titans could not see it and turned to face them, dropping his arm as he did so, hiding the weapon between himself and the wardrobe. He now faced the five young teens; the looks on their faces were cold, angry or simply perplexed.

"I had no idea it would come to this. Taylor led me, led all the agents, to believe that this was just another project and that nothing was going to come of it. I should've known he was lying, I should've seen through it. I'm sorry that I dragged you into this, I'm sorry that I believed the lies and I'm sorry I misplaced your trust," said Deckard. He held the pistol behind his back in a white knuckle grip, knowing full well what he had to do. He could not live with this mistake and was not about to have the guilt of something so massive be on his conscience; he already had enough of that from what happened with his father the day he was killed. There was nothing else he could do to stop what was already in motion. As much as it pained him, Deckard knew he only had one way out. "Please…you need to leave, I need some time alone," he said solemnly.

"We're not going anywhere, not until I get to the bottom of this," said Robin beginning to walk over towards him. The look on Ravens' face suddenly went from being deadpan to one of overwhelming fear.

"Then I'm sorry you have to see this," said Deckard as he pulled the pistol out and placed it to his temple. Robin stopped cold and the other Titans eyes grew huge with fright. Deckard closed his eyes and began to squeeze the trigger.

"No!" Screamed Raven as she let fly her left hand, black energy emerging from her fingers. Deckard could feel a sphere envelop the weapon and his hand as it lifted away from his head until his arm pointed straight up at the ceiling. The speed of the movement caused him to pull the trigger out of reflex, discharging a round within the sphere of dark energy. The bullet left the barrel of the weapon only to shatter within the orb. Deckard opened his eyes and looked upwards as the pistol left his hand and floated over to Raven who took it in hers. The spent casing fell to the floor in front of her. Her eyes returned to normal from the pure white they had been and she lowered her arm to her side, concealing it and Deckard's pistol behind her cloak. Deckard simply stared in disbelief before falling to his knees and hanging his head.

"Dee! What the heck is wrong with you man?" Asked Cyborg who walked briskly over to where Deckard had collapsed. Deckard looked up from where he was and saw Robin and Cyborg standing over him. The look in his eyes was one of sheer helplessness and self loathing.

"Give him space. His mind is a flurry of emotions right now," said Raven approaching her two friends. The look on her face was the one she always had; absolute stone cold and in control. There was no visible worry on her face. Robin seemed to disagree with her assessment.

"But what about-"

"Robin, with his current mental state being what it is, the last thing he needs is to have more pressure put on him," she said, kneeling in front of Deckard. He was still on his knees and staring at a spot on the floor, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone. "I think all of you should go wait outside for a while, let me talk to him," she said quietly. The other Titans looked at each other and then slowly made their way toward the door. Robin stayed until all the others had left and then he too retreated back into the hallway. Once the door closed, Raven turned her attention back towards Deckard. "Did you think that was going to solve the problem?" Deckard remained silent, but looked up at her with intense eyes. "Really, if anything, it would have brought more problems on the team than help," she said.

"I know. You're right, that was a selfish thing to do" he muttered.

"Deckard, we need you," she said almost pleadingly.

"Sure, like you need razor burn. What could I possibly do to help you after what I've already done?" He asked.

"You know SOLAR, that database, the system and the access to them. You're too important to hang yourself over this one detail. You can turn this around," she answered. To this, he seemed to respond.

"How?"

"First, let's put this behind you. You're not going to do anything else, and I know that you only did what you did because you felt cornered. We're not your enemy, and you're not ours," she said and with that she held out her hand. Deckard looked at it blankly before taking it and she helped him to his feet. Her skin was soft, softer than he imagined, and it was warm as well. Slowly they began to walk towards the door when Deckard stopped, causing Raven to turn and face him.

"You were right. One side did win out," he said calmly. A slight smirk appeared at the corner of her lips and she continued towards the door, Deckard behind her. The other Titans were leaning against the walls of the hallway, waiting as if outside an operating room.

"Agent Deckard, are you feeling better?" Asked Starfire. Her naïvety was only overshadowed by her genuine concern for others, which Deckard really appreciated at the moment.

"Yeah, thanks. Sorry about that back there, guess I just…," said Deckard, leaving the statement open and wishing to put the incident behind him. He looked over at Cyborg, a slight smile on his face at seeing that Deckard was no worse for wear. "Cyborg, what would you need to gain access to the SOLAR database and find this holding facility?"

"I'm sure they'd detect me or my computer as soon as I logged into the database," he replied. Deckard thought another moment.

"Could you access it through me?" He asked.

"Doubtful, right now the server is set up to only allow your encryption key. If the security programs or firewalls detect any deviation in the access algorithms it'll cut you off from the system and shut you out, permanently, not to mention alert the entire database of a potential breach," he said. The kid was sharp, Deckard had to admit, but there had to be a way to get through. Then, another idea came to mind.

"What about a shell program? We encase the algorithm in a bundle with a bunch of others so the shell goes through before the security programs detect it. The empty strings would mask the intrusion signal, give us a window to find what we're looking for," said Deckard. Cyborg shifted his eyes up and placed his finger on his chin, contemplating the idea.

"It could work, but I'll need time," he said.

"How much time?" Asked Deckard.

"A few hours minimum. Writing all those false programs is a lot of work," he said in response. At least now there was a plan. Deckard wasn't sure what the rest of it would be since he was making this up as he went, but if they could at least make a dent in SOLARs armor before he left the Tower, he would feel better about what was going on.

"All right, you and Beast Boy get to work on that. Star, you and I are going to the police station to see who else we can find that's been transferred. Raven, stay here with Deckard," said Robin.

"Got it," she acknowledged. Ironically, there was not a sense of dread or distaste in her voice. Deckard walked back into his room to work on the computer, but as Raven turned to follow, Robin stopped her. "If he gives you any trouble, call us, we'll be back lightning fast," he said slightly above a whisper. She nodded her head in agreement. "OK Titans, lets move." The two duos each headed in their separate directions while Raven watched. Once they were out of sight, she turned to head back into Deckards' room. His fingers were a flurry of activity, feverishly typing away like an author hell bent on writing a novel in a day.

"What are you trying to do?" She asked him.

"Since I was the primary agent assigned to you guys, I have the ability to add, or delete, any information about you on the profiles. I'll do that in a bit, right now I want to try and find out the details of the project so I can alert the other agents. If I can stop this here and now, that's priority number one," he said not taking his attention away from the screen. Raven could tell his mind was racing with activity, no part of it being distracted by any outside stimuli or influences. She decided to take the opportunity to meditate and practice doing the same thing herself. She had become better at tuning out distractions, but when they were as big as Beast Boy, it often took more than she had to ignore him. Slowly she crossed her legs, began to levitate and closed her eyes. Soon she was in full meditation, focusing only on finding her center but still keeping a feeler out for what Deckard was doing. Eventually, they were both in their own little worlds, but aware the other was only feet away.


	17. Chapter 17

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 17 – CONTRACT

1159hrs EST, Monday, 23 June  
Washington D.C. – FBI Headquarters

Taylor slammed his car door shut, the sound of it causing several people to turn and face his direction as they walked through the parking lot. He sat in the drivers seat and grabbed the steering wheel with white knuckles, the amount of anger boiling up in him. _How could those wretched Titans have discovered anything about SOLAR_? He thought as he snarled at their images behind his minds eye. The fact that all of his work, all those years of collecting information, all those millions of dollars spent, all that time invested would be for nothing was not going to sit well with him.

Luckily for him, he was the only one fully aware of everything SOLAR was encompassing. The four individuals whom he spoke with previously in anonymity were all present at the unveiling of the treatment facility. He was unsure who they were, since there were so many, but he knew they were there. He also knew that all of those individuals were the victims of a fiery helicopter crash after they had left the facility on the day of that unveiling. The cause of the "accident" was still being determined, but Taylor had made sure that there was very little evidence to suggest that the explosives he ordered planted would ever be discovered. The rest of the delegation had been given a demonstration of the in house gas chamber, except the normal tear gas had been substituted for a more deadly variety of Serin nerve agent. The bodies were disposed of cleanly and would never be found, per Taylors' instructions.

Taylor had thought long and hard about how he was going to deal with these "loose ends" once the project had taken flight. Unfortunately, the easiest and most effective way was to simply eliminate anyone who had any knowledge of the project, from the lowly intern who handed out the dockets in Metropolis to his second in command. Taylor needed to have absolute control over what was going on with his project and that meant eliminating anyone and everyone associated with SOLAR, including his agents in the field.

Removing his hands from the steering wheel he retrieved a cell phone from the center console of his vehicle and went through the contact list. He was not worried about anyone listening in because the bandwidth the device operated on was high enough normal scanners could not pick it up and it was encrypted, just like all his other stuff. When he found the contact he wanted, he hit "SEND" and waited for the dial tone. After about four rings, someone picked up.

"Da?"

"Where are you now?" Asked Taylor, who had to remind himself who he really was every time he made these calls.

"De zame place I vas de last time you called," said the accented voice.

"I have another one for you, but this one's a priority, needs to be done immediately," said Bose, looking around his vehicle to make sure nobody saw him.

"You know my price for taking priority jobs," was the reply. Bose cringed at the thought but knew that it had to be done.

"Yes, yes, I know. I went ahead and sent you his information and where he's located. How soon can you get it done?" Bose asked concernedly. There was a pause before the voice answered.

"Vithin de next fourteen hours. Is zis acceptable?" Asked the voice on the other end.

"That's just fine, dear girl, just fine. How many more are left after this?"

"Only three," said the voice.

"Excellent. Trust me, my lady, when this is over, you will be handsomely rewarded for your efforts," said Bose chuckling. There was no reciprocation of the sentiment, however.

"I'm looking forvard to it, comrade," was the last reply before the audible click of the line going dead. Bose placed the phone back in the console of his vehicle and proceeded to exit out into the parking lot. He felt a lot better knowing that soon all his problems with the Titans, and Agent Deckard, would be dealt with by early hours of the morning.


	18. Chapter 18

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 18 - TARGETED

2150hrs PST, Monday, 23 June  
Jump City – Titans Tower

Deckards' eyes were as sore as they had ever been. He had been staring at his computer screen for over 12 hours, slowly being able to gather bits and pieces of SOLAR from what he could access. He had the names of all of the villains that had been transferred from various facilities, the specifics on the amount of money that had been put into the project and the number of agencies either actively or unknowingly involved. He still had not been able to locate the treatment facility or which members of the Justice League had an active tail on them. The most surprising, or alarming, thing was that he could not contact any of the other agents assigned to the various heroes. All of their cell phones had been disconnected and no one was accessible via vidlink. It did not make any sense.

Deckard pushed his chair away from the desk and turned to his right, rubbing his eyes and massaging his forehead. He was still in his workout clothes from the morning and had not had anything to eat all day. The other Titans were still out doing their respective jobs; and Raven was still here, still in the room. She had stopped mediating about an hour or so ago, maybe longer, Deckard was not sure. Now all she did was simply watch him, as if analyzing a lab rat performing a series of tasks.

"You just going to stay in the corner and stare at me all night?" He asked. She did not reply, only continued to stare. The only light in the room was coming from the laptop screen, as it seemed both he and Raven had an aversion to incandescent light. It made Ravens skin look even paler than it was, and tainted her blue cloak an off-violet. "You know, I never did say thank you," he said shyly.

"For what?" She asked.

"For saving me from myself this morning. I don't know what I was thinking," he replied. She stared at him for a moment before answering.

"Yes you did. You just weren't thinking clearly. There is a big difference between knowing what to think and thinking rationally," she said.

"I'll take your word for it," replied Deckard. He continued to look at her in the faint light, her face seemingly radiating. He got up and walked over to the bed, close to where she was standing, and sat down. The softness of the mattress compared to the firmness of the desk chair was welcome on his lower back and he fell backwards onto the bed. "You know, they're lucky to have you," he said. This seemed to perplex her.

"What do you mean?"

"Your friends, they're lucky to have you, just as you're fortunate to have them. I can't tell you what I would give to have had friends like you have back when I was your age," said Deckard, staring at the ceiling.

"My age? I'm eighteen, you're not that much older than me," she said in reply.

"Five years," smiled Deckard.

"It's not the years that matter, it's the mileage," said Raven. Deckard had to admit, she had a point.

"I hear you on that. I think I was the most mature teenager in all of Gotham growing up. It was like I never got to have any fun. After school all I did was go volunteer down at the police station or wash some of the patrol cars for money. They were like a big family; took me in, helped me with problems in school, but I never had any real friends. While all the other kids were hanging out, goofing off and partying, I was working or practicing martial arts or studying," said Deckard, his words trailing off into the room more than being directed at Raven.

"Is that because of what happened with your father?" Asked Raven meekly, not wanting to upset him. She knew what it was like to feel the pain of not having a loved one in her life, and she had not ever known anything besides that void. She hoped that Deckard would understand that. There was a long pause from Deckard before he sat up on the bed and looked her dead in the eye. Then he bowed his head and sighed.

"My mom left my dad and me when I was just five. One day she left for work and just never came home. Found out later she was involved with this guy she worked with. Anyway, from then on it was just me and the old man. The department was nice enough to let him work day shifts so he'd be working while I was at school. It was like that for almost seven years before they told him they'd give him a promotion if he went back to nights. He figured I was old enough to take care of myself by then, and I felt I was. I still had a lot to learn, but so far he taught me right," said Deckard as he looked Raven genuinely in the eye. She felt compelled to move out of the corner and sit next to him.

"It was tough, though, him working nights. I had to be quiet when I came home from school so I didn't wake him up. One day, I had a bad day at school, so I came home and started making a ruckus in the kitchen trying to find something to eat, just venting the frustration. I woke him up and we got into a huge fight. I went to my room and waited until he left to go to work before I fell asleep. We never even said goodbye…" said Deckard, staring at the floor. Raven continued to listen. "The next thing I knew, Commissioner Gordon was at the door with four or five cops, said I needed to come down to the station. I didn't know what was going on until we showed up at the hospital, but by the time I got there, he was already gone." Deckard closed his eyes, trying to repress the pain of never being able to tell his father goodbye or that he loved him. Deckard was the only member of the family at the funeral, both of his dads parents had passed away years before and he had no siblings. Almost half of the department showed up, however, and took little Rick in as best they could.

Because of his age, Deckard had to stay with various police families until he came of legal age to live on his own. He was grateful to all those who helped him, but he always felt like he could never be a normal teenager while under someone else's roof. His lack of partying seemed to bear fruit in the end, however, when he was given a full scholarship to Gotham State University and graduated in three years with a double major. Getting picked up by the Bureau was simply icing on the cake for Deckard, he knew how proud his dad would have been for him because his father never wanted him to be a street cop. That drive to please his father sometimes was the only thing that kept him going. Deckard looked over at Raven, who was staring at a similar spot on the floor.

"I know what it's like to be in that position. When everything seemed lost, all I could think about was just giving up, giving in, but the people around me wouldn't quit on me. They knew that I could make it through, and in the end, they were right. Sometimes, as much as I'm not a people person, it's good to surround yourself with people who care about you," she said with a slight smile. Deckard nodded his head in agreement as he toyed with something on his necklace. "What's that?" She asked curiously.

"Oh, this is the handcuff key my dad used every day he went to work. Kind of a way of carrying him with me everywhere I go," said Deckard, letting the ornament fall to his chest. He watched as Raven looked at it with intent. As she got closer, he backed away a little, afraid his lack of a shower would scare her off. "Whoa! Don't get too close there, babe, haven't showered at all today," he said half jokingly.

"It's all right. Beast Boy sometimes doesn't take showers for _days_," she said in reply. They both laughed slightly. Deckard continued to look into her eyes, her gaze almost hypnotic.

"Raven, look, I'm not quite sure how to tell you this, so I'm just going to say it," he said. He could not understand why he was so nervous; actually, yes he could. He had never had a girlfriend, ever, and had only ever seldom talked to members of the opposite sex.

"OK," she said, somewhat confused.

"Since I got here, I, well, I've been enamored by you. I think that you're really interesting and, well," Deckard looked up to see that one of her eyebrows was cocked and the look on her face seemed to broadcast _you're kidding me, right_? Maybe it would just be better to quit while he was behind. "You know what, forget it, I don't know what I was trying to say."

"Oh, no comrade, I think you vere doing quite vell," came a voice from the door. Both Raven and Deckard looked up to see a figure standing propped against the door frame silhouetted by the light from the hallway.

"Who are you?" Said Raven as she stood in a fighting stance. Her answer came in the form of an electrical shock that knocked her to the ground in a heap. Deckard looked on as the figure now directed whatever it was that shocked Raven towards him. He stood up only to be knocked down to the floor just as she had. With both of them down the individual walked over their limp bodies, first to Raven, restraining her hands so that she could not summon her powers to retaliate. The figure then placed a metal headband around Raven's head and hit a switch, activating a small diode on the front of it.

"Zis particular device vill inflict pain de more you focus. De less you concentrate, de less pain you vill feel," said the voice. Deckard could tell that the voice was female and the accent sounded Russian or Ukrainian, but he could not discern completely. He was conscious enough to see the boots of the figure were definitely feminine in appearance, and raising his head a little higher he could vaguely make out that the individual was indeed a woman from her physique. Suddenly he felt himself being dragged over to the bathroom door across the carpet. His vision was blurred from the electrical shock but he was still aware of what was going on around him. The light from the hallway allowed him to see Raven on the ground next to the bed, her hands restrained, but she was alive.

Deckard felt his left hand being grabbed and placed against the bedpost. He heard the distinctive click of handcuffs as he felt his wrist become compressed by one of the metal rings. His vision came back to him alarmingly fast now, the adrenaline beginning to coarse through him. He looked to see a black suited figure, one hundred percent positively female, wearing a ski mask standing over him.

"I am sorry it has to come to zis, comrade," she said and with that forced Raven to her feet. The young Titan staggered initially at first, but when she tried to summon her power, the headband released a small electrical shock, causing her to collapse to the floor again.

"Leave her out of this!" Demanded Deckard, lashing out to try and grab the assailant only to be held back by his short leash.

"Dear boy, she vill be out of zis, very soon, as vill you," said the woman who removed a cylindrical device from her back and placed it against the wall next to the main door. She pressed a series of keys and Deckard could make out a series of numbers counting down from 30. The black suited woman then walked over to the desk and closed Deckards' laptop and carried it in her right hand. She then pulled out a large pistol from a holster on her left side and motioned for Raven to walk out the door. Raven complied, and as she made her way out the woman turned back to face Deckard one last time. "Dosvadonya, comrade," she said and with that the door closed in front of her. Deckard looked at the readout on the bomb; only 24 seconds. With his free right hand, he reached for his fathers' handcuff key and began to nervously fidget with it in the key hole. She had double locked the cuffs, meaning he would have to turn it one way and then the other to undo the mechanism. His nervousness and anxiety were wreaking havoc with his dexterity, but he had to get them off and fast. Eventually he felt the vice grip of the cuff release from his wrist. Finally free of the metal bracelets, he looked to see he only had 14 seconds remaining.

He ran to the door only to discover it had been locked shut.

_12 seconds_.

He scanned the room and realized his only safe haven was the bathroom, in the tub.

_10 seconds_.

As he ran to the door, his foot hit something next to the night stand; his HK 45 pistol, right where Raven had been standing. She must have dropped it when she got shocked.

_7 seconds_.

Deckard picked up the pistol and ran into the bathroom. The tub was set low to the ground and he was unsure if it would provide descent protection from shrapnel, but he had no other choice. He put the pistol in the tub and lay down on top of it, trying as hard as he could to bond himself with the floor.

_3 seconds_.

He took his hands and covered his ears, placing the tips of each index finger in both openings. He gritted his teeth, held his breath and tensed all the muscles in his body as he heard the bathroom doors slide shut.

Then the timer hit zero.


	19. Chapter 19

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 19 - ELIMINATED

2212hrs PST, Monday, 23 June  
Jump City – Titans Tower

The explosion rocked the Tower and activated the warning klaxons. Raven turned back to see the door to Deckards' room had been blasted across the hallway and embedded into the opposite wall. The smoke that poured out of the newly formed hole was thick and putrid. She waited to hear the sprinklers come on inside the room, but evidently there was so much damage that they had been knocked out as well. Just then the woman placed the barrel of the pistol she was carrying into Ravens' shoulder, forcing her to look up at her captor.

"Move!" She commanded harshly. Raven turned and began walking down the hallway, away from the chaos at the end of it. She wanted to know if Deckard had survived, but was unable to concentrate hard enough without tripping whatever was in this headband she was wearing. Still, she figured she would try; it might buy her time for the other Titans to get here. She closed her eyes, began to focus and tried to reach out to Deckard. Immediately she felt her concentration break and felt a wave of pain course through her body. Her chakra and the area surrounding her forehead took the brunt of the pain and she felt like she had the mother of all migraines. She collapsed to the floor again. "Foolish child! Vhy do you continue to resist?" Asked the woman, who had her weapon pointed directly at Raven's head while she was on the ground.

"Because that's how she is," said a voice from the other end of the hall. Raven turned to see her fellow Titans primed for action, weapons at the ready. Beast Boy had morphed into a tiger, Cyborg had his sonic cannon primed and charged, Robin held his bow staff in a fighting stance and Starfires' eyes were as green as the star bolts in her hands.

"Lo-vher your veapons, else I vill kill your friend," said the woman. Raven did not take her eyes off her friends; none of them moved.

"You first, Natasha," retorted Cyborg, picking up on the accent. The woman's eyes narrowed from behind the ski mask she was wearing.

"I have already killed your friend Deckard. Do not tempt me to kill another," she said. Robin saw the laptop in her right hand and the smoke coming from the end of the hallway. Then he saw Raven, the look in her eyes conveying that Deckard must be gone and that this woman was not toying with them. Robin considered his options and realized he was limited to one.

"Stand down," he said, collapsing his bow.

"Say what?" Said Cyborg looking at him as if he had lost his mind and a deep throated roar from Beast Boy conveyed the same sentiment.

"I said stand down. I don't want Raven to get hurt," he said. With that, Cyborg deactivated his sonic cannon and Starfire allowed her star bolts to dissipate. Beast Boy reluctantly morphed back into his human form, though the look on his face conveyed he still had the eye of a tiger. The four of them stood together at the end of the hallway, waiting.

"A good choice, though sadly, it vouldn't have made a difference," said the woman who pulled the hammer on her sidearm back to the single-action position. Raven whirled back around to see the barrel of the weapon pointed right at her forehead and watched as the woman's index finger slowly began to squeeze the trigger. The other Titans could only watch, trying to hurriedly retrieve their weapons but knowing that they could never move fast enough. Raven closed her eyes and tried to make peace with herself, knowing that in a mere second she would return to Azarath.

The sound of the shot echoed through the hallway, stopping the other Titans where they stood. Raven, out of reflex, flinched; but, how could she flinch? She was supposed to be in Azarath. She opened her eyes to see the woman fall to her right side, the pistol still in her hand. There was a hole at the base of her skull that was beginning to bleed copiously. Raven simply stared at the corpse until she heard a cough from the lingering haze at the end of the hall, forcing her to turn her head and see Deckard emerge from the smoke.

He held his weapon in a standard pistol shooting stance; both arms out in front of him, level, with body squared and deliberate walking motion. He kept the weapon trained on the body until he could plainly see that it was no longer a threat, and then lowered the weapon to his side. Knowing Raven was safe, he collapsed to the floor. His ears were still ringing despite having covered them, his head was throbbing, he was covered in soot and his back was peppered with cuts and bruises from flying debris. All in all, he was pretty banged up, but he knew that was better than the alternative.

"Rae, Dee, you guys OK?" Asked Cyborg frantically as the other four Titans approached them. Robin helped prop Raven up while Starfire removed the metal headband from her brow. Cyborg and BB went for Deckard, helping him up carefully. Deckard was still trying to get his bearings, but was able to answer the question despite his hacking cough.

"Fine," he said. He looked to see Raven get up under her own power. He was glad to see she was all right.

"What happened?" Asked Robin, who at this point was not quite sure what was going on. Rather than put Deckard through the ordeal, Raven elected to answer.

"Rick and I were discussing what might be the best way to explain the reason why he couldn't get in touch with the other agents when she showed up. She subdued us both then restrained him with handcuffs and took me prisoner. She took his laptop and set a bomb in his room to finish him off," she said, her gaze wandering to Deckard.

"How'd you survive?" Asked Beast Boy, stealing the question away from Robin.

"I hid in the bathtub," he said, hacking again. The ringing in his ears was starting to subside at least.

"How'd you get out of the handcuffs?" Asked Robin. To this, Deckard simply showed him his father's handcuff key, still on his necklace.

"Dear old dad," he said with as much of a smile as he could muster. He looked down at the corpse, the pool of blood now surrounding her head and beginning to soak into the ski mask and clothing she was wearing. Luckily the floor was all linoleum, so cleanup would be relatively easy, but still messy. Deckard shrugged BB and Cyborg off of his shoulders and approached the body, reaching out with his right hand to remove the ski mask. BB and Starfire seemed to be a bit grossed out by his actions, but Deckard had to know who exactly had tried to kill him. Upon pulling the ski mask back, he recognized the face that was staring off at the wall.

"Natalia Radinov," he said before coughing again.

"Who is she?" Asked Beast Boy, who was just as interested to know the other Titans.

"Ex-KGB, was one of their top female agents. Became a mercenary a few years back and cut all ties with Mother Russia in the process. Six months ago she began moonlighting as an assassin for extra income," said Deckard as he knelt next to the blood soaked corpse. The .45 caliber slug had done considerable damage where it impacted Natalia's skull, though luckily it had not gone clean through and through or else Deckard never would have been able to make a positive ID.

"Looks like somebody doesn't want you around," said Robin menacingly.

"Apparently," said Deckard, who by now was starting to feel the effects of the concussion he suffered in the blast. The cuts on his back began to sting and his breathing became more and more labored, his whole torso was aching severely. He tried to get back up but the wash of pain was immense.

"Dee, you're pretty banged up. Let's get you over to the medical bay," said Cyborg, who was now beginning to show genuine concern for Deckard. His diagnostics could analyze and monitor other persons vital signs from a distance and what he saw in Deckard was not good. Normally, Deckard would have protested such a suggestion but the pain around his ribs and head was more than he could bear. Rather than fight it, he nodded his head in agreement as Cyborg helped him to his feet. Robin came over to assist.

"C'mon, let's go. Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, take care of the body," said Robin with a hint of surprise in his voice. Normally the Titans would never have killed anyone, not even their arch nemesis, but if it ever did happen by some stroke of bad luck Robin put a plan into place that involved JCPD and a number of investigators he was close with. Unfortunately, under the current circumstances, notifying the authorities would only let the operatives involved with the SOLAR project know that their mission was compromised. Robin did not want to risk that kind of retribution, especially since one of his own had _almost_ died while they tried to kill Deckard. The three Titans watched as Robin, Cyborg and Deckard rounded a corner with Deckard staggering with every step. Without a word, Raven levitated the body above the floor and began to walk towards the stairwell leading to the roof.

"Starfire, follow me," she said without looking at her friend. Starfire began to hover and followed her friend down the hallway, leaving BB alone with the pool of still fresh blood on the floor. He walked into the living room and over to the kitchen, obtaining a bucket, mop and disinfectant from one of the cabinets. He filled the bucket with water and poured the disinfectant into it liberally. When it was full, he returned to the pool and began to mop up the mess. Even though he thought it was gross, he figured that with everything that just happened, he should just keep his mouth shut.


	20. Chapter 20

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 20 - NEVAR

2248hrs PST, Monday, 23 June  
Jump City – Titans Tower

In the medical bay, Deckard could barely make out the lines of the EKG as it pulsed to the steady beat of his heart. His vision was blurred and the absence of any ambient light in the room made it even more difficult to see. The monitor behind the head of the bed displayed all the pertinent information needed for anyone looking after him; pulse, blood pressure, respiration and neural kinetics. All in all, he was in descent shape save for the cuts and bruises.

Initially, he thought he had a concussion from the amount of throbbing his head was suffering, but that was just from the air blast caused from when the device exploded. If it had not been for the bathroom doors closing, there was little chance Rick Deckard would have survived. Right now, however, the most damaging thing was the internal bruising. That was the source of the severe pain and why Deckard's breathing was still so labored. Cyborg and Robin monitored his vitals with intensity, ready in case anything else happened.

"I don't suppose you know how she got in the Tower?" Asked Robin. Deckard could hear perfectly fine, much to his chagrin. The question angered him slightly, but he was in too much pain to even think about getting mad at Robin. Even replying to the statement seemed like a Herculean effort, as his throat hurt from the smoke inhalation.

"No, I was to busy accessing your profiles," he said hoarsely. Robin grimaced but Cyborg placed a hand on his shoulder and Robin turned to face him.

"Hey man, lay off him for a bit. The dude almost got blown up and still managed to save Raven. I think he's earned a reprieve from you asking him questions for a while," said Cyborg calmly. Robin looked back at Deckard who had slipped into unconsciousness in the span of those few seconds. His pulse remained normal and his blood pressure continued to rescind to acceptable levels but his respiration remained labored and shallow. He had risked his life to save her, one of Robin's own, even when a bomb had just gone off mere moments before. The fact that Deckard got injured only seemed to solidify what Cyborg had said. Suddenly, the door opened and the other three walked in.

"How is he?" Asked Raven, a genuine look of concern visible on her face.

"OK for the most part. There's a lot of internal bruising but fortunately no bleeding. Most of the cuts he suffered are superficial, so I was able to treat them and bandage them up, but I can't do anything about the bruising," said Cyborg solemnly. The cuts on Deckard's back were caused by flying pieces of shrapnel but none of them were deep enough to cause any real damage. It was almost as if he'd been scratched by a very angry cat. The five of them looked on at the unconscious body until Raven spoke up.

"I can heal him, but it will take some time and more than just my powers. I'll have to give him an elixir that will allow me heal all the bruises at once rather than one at a time," she said. The others looked back at her, somewhat perplexed.

"Can you do it here?" Asked Cyborg.

"No, I'll have to bring him to my room. The elixir can only be mixed under certain conditions, and this room doesn't lend itself well to the incantations required to mix it," she replied. Cyborg looked over at Robin like he always did when he knew a decision had to be made. Robin looked down briefly before he answered.

"All right Raven, do what you need to, but if anything goes wrong, I want you to get him back up here immediately. We still need him," he said. Raven nodded her head in acknowledgment and then looked over at Deckard. She waited until Cyborg removed all the leads and wires from his body before she summoned her power. Her eyes changed from their normal amethyst color to a radiating white and then she, and Deckard, disappeared from the medical bay, leaving the other four Titans to themselves. Robin looked back at Cyborg and Beast Boy.

"Get back to working on that shell program. Starfire can stay up here in case there's a problem with Deckard," he said as he headed for the door.

"Uh, and _where_ do you think you're going?" Asked Beast Boy placing his hands on his hips. Robin stopped in the doorway but did not look back in his direction.

"To make a phone call."

...

Raven looked over her patient as he lay motionless on her bed. He was still covered in soot and his face was blackened slightly from the smoke, but not nearly as blackened as his clothes which were more or less in tatters. He remained completely unconscious throughout the entire process of mixing the elixir, from selecting the chalice to the final incantation. The neon green liquid almost filled the chalice to its brim, but hopefully he would not need all of it. Slowly she approached the bed and levitated the chalice off to her right. She placed her right hand on Deckard's left shoulder and her left on his right bicep.

"Rick…Rick, it's Raven. Can you hear me?" She asked as sweetly as she could. His head moved slightly and there was some inaudible grunt that came from him but he failed to awaken.

"Rick, you need to wake up so I can help you," she said this time less sweetly but still drastically higher than her normal deadpan tone. She watched as his eyes slowly opened, then closed, then opened again. His gaze met her eyes instinctively and the look on her face was one of relief, perhaps with a tinge of something more. Deckard was confused but aware of whom she was.

"What…where?" He asked and he started to raise his head. He felt her hand reach around the back of his head and hold it up. He knew he was with Raven, but was unsure where exactly. He watched as she reached with her right hand to grab a very elaborate looking cup out of the air which contained a sweet smelling green liquid.

"Here, drink this. It will help ease the pain," she said. Deckard's mind was ablaze with a million thoughts, an utter chaos of questions to which he had no answers. The taste of the liquid was less appealing than its scent but he could feel it coarse through his body as soon as he ingested it. When the chalice was half empty he felt a wave of cold wash across his entire body. His eyes grew wide before he let out an exhaling breath and slipped back into unconsciousness. Raven could tell that the elixir had taken effect, but scanned his mind to make sure he was not in danger. Satisfied, she placed the chalice on a bookshelf and then sat down next to the limp Deckard.

She began to remove his shirt, which simply disintegrated when she pulled on it. She cast the tattered clothing aside and placed her hands on his sides, just below his pectoral muscles. She could not help but notice that he was pretty well built for an "older" guy, and actually thought that he was kind of cute. Realizing she could not let _that_ distract her, she removed her hands and took off her cloak, then re-positioned herself so that she was straddling Deckard. She did not think anything of it; it was simply the best position to be in for how she had to apply her healing powers. Plus, Deckard was out cold, so there was no way he would ever know. Raven's hands began to radiate a blue hue as she began the process of healing his bruises.

Deckard's skin began to turn a pale blue as her powers combined with the elixir. The liquid had spread throughout his body and permeated his musculature and blood vessels, allowing her to simply place her hands in one spot and heal his entire body. Though the process was faster than individually treating each area, it was still time consuming. She looked at the clock and saw it was almost 11:00PM. Hopefully this would not take too long because she feared having him waking up with her in _this_ position.

...

Robin stood in front of the large screen in the living room, the sound of static piercing the air. It lasted only briefly but enough to get on his nerves even though Robin was already on edge; having someone sneak into his house and set off a bomb tended to do that to him. He waited impatiently as the image of a chair surrounded by computers came into focus. When the cowled figure finally did sit down, his facial expression was anything less than enthusiastic.

"Are you all right?" He asked. Robin though that was strange, especially coming from Batman.

"All things considered, what's wrong with you?" Asked Robin.

"I haven't been able to contact anyone at the League since this morning. Something's wrong, Robin, severely wrong," said Batman trying to hide his concern. Robin was unsure how to proceed, so he thought he would just tell Batman what he discovered.

"I think I know what happened. We confronted Deckard this morning about SOLAR, and he wanted to prove to us that we had nothing to fear. He called his boss, a Donovan Taylor, who told him that SOLAR is going to arrest all the heroes, including us, because he doesn't feel we're entitled to be here. Deckard offered to help us fight back, and then tonight someone came here and tried to kill him," said Robin. He wanted to get as many details out but at the same time not weigh Batman down with pointless specifics. "She tried to kill Raven too, but Deckard shot her before she could." To this, Batman's facial expression visibly changed.

"Glad she's all right. Where is Deckard now?" He asked.

"With Raven. The assassin set off a bomb in his room. He survived, but he's unconscious at the moment and can't tell us anything," said Robin solemnly. Batman placed his hand to his chin before he responded.

"Keep me posted. I might not be here the next time you call, so use the communicator," he said.

"Where are you going?" Asked Robin quickly.

"Someplace where they _won't_ find me," he replied and with that the signal cut out. Robin was, for the first time in a long time, frightened of what was happening. The fact that the Justice League was out of communication was errant enough, but Batman leaving the Bat Cave in order to avoid detection was just scary. He needed Deckard awake and cognitive, but knew that rushing it would only exacerbate the current situation. There only thing he could do was what he hated doing the most; he would have to wait.

...

Raven ran her hands underneath the sink and watched as the black water flowed down the drain. It had taken her over an hour but she was certain all of Deckard's bruises were healed. The soot from his clothes and body had dirtied her hands and legs. Luckily she did not have to turn him over to address the wounds to his back; the elixir had taken care of that. The potion worked perfectly, all she had done was position her hands on his torso and chest…well, mostly. Never having been in a situation like this before, she took the liberty of allowing her hands to wander, though she made sure she was discreet with where she went.

She emerged from the bathroom wiping her hands with a towel when she saw Deckard sitting upright on the side of her bed. He had his left hand on his forehead and the other on his right knee. When he saw her emerge, he sat up and placed his left hand to his side.

"How are you feeling?" She asked him. He stood up and began to walk over towards her. She was still fumbling with the towel.

"Better, to say the least, guess I was more hurt than I thought," he said, a slight smirk coming across his face. "I do have a few questions though," he said. Raven stood tall and confident as usual, but there was a certain meekness about her that Deckard had not noticed before. Perhaps it was because of the height difference between them; though Deckard was sure a whole five inches was not a huge divide. At 5'10", Deckard was about average height for a male his age, while Raven stood only 5'5", a little shorter than average. "The first is what was that stuff you gave me?" Raven simply looked at him and answered as deadpan as she could.

"It was an elixir, a potion that allows my healing powers to be applied to more than one specific area at a time," she said placing the towel in a hamper in the corner. She wanted to get some distance between herself and him, knowing full well that without her cloak his eyes were probably scanning her eccentrically, and her leotard did not leave much to the imagination.

"All right, well, glad to hear it wasn't roofies. Next is would you mind if I used your shower? Mine, uh, kind of blew up the last time I checked," he said with a tinge of sarcasm. Raven resisted the urge to laugh but a snicker managed to work its way out of her.

"That's fine," she said. She turned to face him again, unsure how long she could keep up the 'serious Raven' act. He had not moved from where he had stood up but his gaze was affixed to her like a laser beam.

"And I don't suppose you know where my shirt went, do you?" He asked with a slight grin. Raven apparently blushed because his grin turned into a huge smile.

"It fell apart after I brought you in here," she said, half lying, which Deckard immediately picked up on.

"Rae, I remember how mad you were when I lied to you…don't do the same thing to me," he said, the smile still on his face. Raven could sense that he knew something was awry here, but she did not want to lose her composure, which was growing increasingly harder to do.

"It fell apart after I tried to take it off," she said as calmly as she could muster. He continued to stare at her, and the distance between them became smaller as he stepped towards her.

"After?"

"_While_ I was taking it off," she admitted. The guilt she felt was only overshadowed by how embarrassed she was at having to admit to what she had done, but then she realized that it was necessary. "I only did it because it was easier to heal you," she said, placing a hand on his chest and pushing him back. Her standard stoic expression returned to her face and Deckard was somewhat surprised but not totally taken aback.

"All right, no need to get defensive," he said stifling a laugh. He had to admit, he was hard pressed to get any information out of her but at least she told him what happened. He could tell that his bareness was making her uncomfortable so he elected to get out of her way. "Look, I didn't mean to pry. I'm gonna go take a shower," he said and with that he walked over towards the doors leading to her bath. He turned back before he entered the bath and said, "By the way, thanks for looking out for me. I feel a lot better." She simply looked back at him with the same stare she had given him before she replied.

"You're welcome, but, I owed you one," she said. With that he walked into the bathroom and the doors closed behind him. Raven turned on her heel and collapsed on her bed, covering her face with her hands. _What am I doing_? She thought to herself. She had never had these feelings manifest in her before, but that was not to say she did not know what they were. She was just not sure how to react to them.


	21. Chapter 21

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 21 - HACKERS

0200hrs PST, Tuesday, 24 June  
Jump City – Titans Tower

Deckard plugged his laptop into one of the connection ports on Cyborg's computer. He was not sure if the shell program Cyborg designed was going to work but there was no other alternative. He keyed up the SOLAR database on his laptop, opened the menu prompt and waited for the half human, half robot to work his electronic magic. Cyborg, from his own computer, entered in several command keystrokes and looked over at Deckard. Rick waited a moment and watched as his laptop screen went black and displayed a prompt:

**:_access_file_'solar_tt_list'  
Confirm_upload? Y/N**

"Upload it," said Cyborg. Deckard hit the 'Y' key and watched as a series of alphanumeric scripts began scrolling across the screen. A small status bar manifested in the bottom left hand corner, displaying the progress of the uploading software. After about 90 seconds, the task bar disappeared and another prompt appeared:

**:_file_'solar_tt_list'  
Upload_successful  
Exit? Y/N**

Deckard exited the window and watched as the screen returned to the normal desktop image with the SOLAR menu minimized at the bottom. He looked on as Cyborg began entering in more commands, attempting to mask his computers signature from the prying security programs that were guarding the information held within the virtual walls of the database.

Rick had come down to check on Cyborg's progress after he had showered in Ravens' room. Raven had been kind enough to go back to the charred remains of the guest room and retrieve what she could of his clothing, which was only three shirts, two pairs of pants and four sets of underwear, in addition to the JCPD Marine Patrol uniform. The stainless steel wardrobe in the room where all his articles were kept was his saving grace, although the few articles he had were not what he would have liked to have seen survive. Raven had slipped the clothes into the bathroom while he was showering and when he emerged he found her sound asleep. Cyborg had told him Star and BB were also both down for the count and only Robin was still awake. Deckard was feeling pretty tired himself but knew that he had to accomplish this task. The doors to Cyborgs' room suddenly opened, and the silhouette of the Boy Wonder was instantly recognizable.

"How are you feeling?" He asked with a hint of concern.

"How I feel, is not important in the face of the task at hand," said Deckard. The answer seemed to catch Robin off guard, but he accepted it with a smile. Deckard looked on as Cyborg keyed in a final series of commands on his computer. "So, we ready?"

"Ready as we can be. I coded the program to attach itself to your user ID. It'll give you access to the _entire_ database, but only for eight minutes before the security programs tear through the encoding. If you're not out before that, we're toast," he said, the seriousness in his voice almost palpable.

"Well then, let's do this," said Deckard as he entered his information into the database and was brought to the menu screen. A small timer appeared in the top right hand corner of the screen.

_7:59…7:58…7:57…_

Deckard looked at the menu screen and typed in "COPY" and was prompted with window.

**COPY ALL FILES TO NEW DIRECTORY? Y/N**

"Are you ready to receive?" He asked Cyborg, his finger hovering over the button. Cyborg looked back in his direction.

"If you're ready to send," he said. Deckard did not turn to face him and smashed the 'Y' key with his finger. A small status bar appeared and showed the estimated time of completion for copying the _entire_ database.

**COPYING DATABASE TO NEW DIRECTORY  
ESTIMATED TIME REMAINING: 7:00**

It was just enough time before their window would slam shut. Deckard minimized the status bar and continued to peruse through the wealth of information that he was not privy to before. He came across the files on the Justice League and opened the main file, revealing a dropdown menu of all the heroes on the roster. He scrolled down to the file labeled "SUPERMAN" and accessed it. There was all the information that Deckard himself had compiled; his alter ego, his residence, friends, family, known enemies and the location of the Fortress of Solitude. What Deckard was most surprised by, however, was at the bottom of the screen, a red line with two words, all capitalized in white; "IN CUSTODY."

_6:42…6:41…6:40…_

"No," said Deckard under his breath. Robin walked over to see what he'd found and was just as surprised.

"That explains why Batman hasn't been able to contact anyone from the League," he said definitively. Deckard frantically exited the file and selected another, this one belonging to Wonder Woman, and was met with the same result. The same message appeared for The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawk Girl, Martian Man-Hunter and every other member of the Justice League. Deckard closed each individual file and re-calibrated his search to subjects listed "AT LARGE" hoping it would turn up better results.

_5:29…5:28…5:27…_

The list was small, smaller than he thought, and five of the nine left were in the same building as Deckard.

**LIST RESULTS FOR SUBJECTS "AT LARGE":**

BEGIN LIST

SUBJ: "BATGIRL"  
NAME: GORDON, BARBARA  
SPECIES: HUMAN  
AGE: 24  
LOCATION: GOTHAM CITY  
SEX: F  
AGENT ASSIGNED: N/A

SUBJ: "BATMAN"  
NAME: UNK  
SPECIES: HUMAN  
AGE: UNK  
LOCATION: GOTHAM CITY  
SEX: M  
AGENT ASSIGNED: KENWOOD, ADAM

SUBJ: "BEAST BOY"  
NAME: LOGAN, GARFIELD  
SPECIES: HUMAN/CHANGELING  
AGE: 15  
LOCATION: JUMP CITY  
SEX: M  
AGENT ASSIGNED: DECKARD, RICK

SUBJ: "CYBORG"  
NAME: STONE, VICTOR  
SPECIES: HUMAN/ROBOT  
AGE: 19  
LOCATION: JUMP CITY  
SEX: M  
AGENT ASSIGNED: DECKARD, RICK

SUBJ: "HUNTRESS"  
NAME: BERTINELLI, HELENA  
SPECIES: HUMAN  
AGE: 26  
LOCATION: GOTHAM CITY  
SEX: F  
AGENT ASSIGNED: N/A

SUBJ: "NIGHTWING"  
NAME: GRAYSON, RICHARD  
SPECIES: HUMAN  
AGE: 27  
LOCATION: GOTHAM CITY  
SEX: M  
AGENT ASSIGNED: N/A

SUBJ: "RAVEN"  
NAME: ROTH, RACHEL  
SPECIES: HUMAN/DEMON  
AGE: 18  
LOCATION: JUMP CITY  
SEX: F  
AGENT ASSIGNED: DECKARD, RICK

SUBJ: "ROBIN"  
NAME: DRAKE, TIMOTHY  
SPECIES: HUMAN  
AGE: 17  
LOCATION: JUMP CITY  
SEX: M  
AGENT ASSIGNED: DECKARD, RICK

SUBJ: "STARFIRE"  
NAME: KORIAND'R  
SPECIES: ALIEN (TAMARANIAN)  
AGE: 16  
LOCATION: JUMP CITY  
SEX: F  
AGENT ASSIGNED: DECKARD, RICK

END OF LIST  
--

That was it; all the heroes of the Justice League had been apprehended. Deckard looked over the list as he watched the clock tick away the precious seconds he had to obtain as much information as he could.

_4:01…4:00…3:59…_

He realized that he had had to find out where the Justice League was being held before time expired. Hurriedly he exited out of his search and his fingers blurred as they danced across the keyboard for the location of the internment facility. Cyborg and Robin looked on as Deckard tuned out all distractions and stared intently at the liquid crystal display in front of him, his eyes unblinking.

_3:12…3:11…3:10…_

"I found it!" He exclaimed, breaking the silence and causing both Cyborg and Robin to jump slightly. He copied the file to his laptop hard drive and made sure it was included in the data stream pouring into Cyborg's computer. Despite having found the file, he did not bother to look at it since the time he had was still slipping away. Deckard accessed another file labeled "REMAINING ASSIGNMENTS" and decided to open it. The information it displayed, however, forced him to pause from his incessant typing.

**LIST RESULTS FOR "REMAINING ASSIGNMENTS":**

BEGIN LIST

NAME: ARMSTRONG, DEEK  
SEX: M  
AGE: 31  
LOCATION: CENTRAL CITY  
RELIEF: SCHEDULED  
AUTHORITY: TAYLOR, DONOVAN

NAME: BARONS, ALICIA  
SEX: F  
AGE: 35  
LOCATION: METROPOLIS  
RELIEF: SCHEDULED  
AUTHORITY: TAYLOR, DONOVAN

NAME: DECKARD, RICK  
SEX: M  
AGE: 23  
LOCATION: JUMP CITY  
RELIEF: IN PROGRESS  
AUTHORITY: BOSE, ADRIAN

NAME: HARDING, JENNIFER  
SEX: F  
AGE: 30  
LOCATION: THEMISCYRA  
RELIEF: SCHEDULED  
AUTHORITY: TAYLOR, DONOVAN

NAME: KENWOOD, ADAM  
SEX: M  
AGE: 40  
LOCATION: GOTHAM CITY  
RELIEF: COMPLETED  
AUTHORITY: BOSE, C/O RADINOV

END OF LIST (LAST UPDATED 23 JUN 08 AT 1217HRS EST)  
--

Rick was speechless, this was a list of other agents assigned to various other locations around the country, but the name "Radinov" was what caught his attention. Suddenly, it all fit together. He copied that file to his laptop as well and continued to press on despite knowing what he now knew. He accessed the section of the database that held all the profiles for the heroes and selected all five of the Titans. Robin looked on curiously.

"What are you doing?" He asked feverishly.

"What I should have done from the start," said Deckard and as he hit the "DELETE" prompt. The files were erased, but as he went to go back out to the main page, another prompt appeared.

**DO YOU WISH TO DELETE ALL PERTINENT BACK-UP FILES? Y/N**

Deckard looked at the clock to see how much time was left.

_1:35…1:34…1:33…_

"Cyborg, how are we doing on the transfer?" He asked. Cyborg looked up at the screen on his computer.

"I got ninety two percent completion here, Dee, where are you?" He asked back.

"Same. I'm going to wait until we get all the data before I answer this prompt," he said. Deckard wanted to make sure that he got rid of as much information on the Titans as possible before time expired, but he did not want to loose anything in the transfer. He watched as the timer continued to inch closer to zero.

_1:00…0:59…0:58…_

"C'mon, c'mon," muttered Deckard under his breath. Robin was standing directly behind him and watching, like a mother bird over her nest. Deckard turned to face Cyborg, who was aching with anticipation. Finally, the inevitable ping sound came through the laptop speakers and a "TRANSFER COMPLETE" message appeared on both screens.

_0:35…0:34…0:33…_

"OK, we have everything we need, right?" Asked Deckard looking over at Cyborg. An affirmative nod from the Titan told Rick everything he needed and he went ahead and hit the 'Y' button to eradicate all the back-up files. This prompted another alert, and this one was much more ominous.

**WARNING! DELTA LEVEL 4 CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR SPECIFIED ACTION!  
INSUFFICIENT SECURITY CLEARANCE DETECTED! TIME TO ENTER: 15 SECS**

"Shit!" Yelled Deckard as Cyborg walked over to where he was sitting. Robin was looking just as intently at the screen as Deckard, though there was an absence of fear in his eyes.

"Uh-oh," said Cyborg. Rick had to think of an authentication number, and just figured he should try anything. He typed in Taylor's vidlink ID number in the hopes that would allow for safe passage out of the database. He had seven seconds left on the timer when he entered what he hoped would be the proper authentication. He was less than satisfied with the outcome.

**UNAUTHORIZED USER DETECTED!  
LOGGING IP ADDRESS…  
PURGING ALL RELEVANT INFORMATION**

"Pull the hard line!" Screamed Deckard. Before he had even finished the sentence, Robin reached over to the link cable and yanked it free from Cyborg's and Deckard's simultaneously. The screen on Deckard's computer simply stated "CONNECTION LOST/TERMINATED. RECOMMEND REBOOT" and logged the time the error occurred. Deckard looked up at both Titans, the expression on their faces were ones of accomplishment and relief. All the pertinent information that they needed was now in their hands, but Deckard was sure that Taylor would be notified of the breach soon, and they were working against the clock.

"Well, as much of an accomplishment as that was, I think we better get this information to the people who need it, as well as formulate a plan on how to rescue the Justice League," said Deckard, rising from his chair as he closed the laptop case.

"Agreed. Meet me in the living room, I'll go and wake the others. Cyborg, stay with Deckard and help him link to the computer in the living room. We'll be sending that information out to a few people," replied Robin. He turned on his heel and headed out the door, leaving Deckard and Cyborg to themselves. Deckard looked over at the half tin man and smiled.

"Nice work, man, really nice work," said Deckard. Cyborg did not return the smile.

"Thanks, but, it's a hollow victory. With all the Justice League in prison and only nine of us left, doesn't seem like very good odds," he said solemnly. Deckard remembered the file with the remaining agents names, the ones who had not yet been "relieved." There were only three, not including himself, which meant that the others had all been eliminated, most likely by Comrade Radinov.

"At least they're still alive," said Deckard, trying to forget what he had just uncovered. He began to walk towards the door when he stopped and turned to face the young Titan, the look on both of their faces equally devoid of any emotion. "I'm going to do whatever is in my power to stop this, even if it kills me," said Deckard and with that he walked through the door. Cyborg approached his computer, keyed in his access number and also headed for the door, thinking out loud as he did so.

"Somehow, I knew you were going to say that, Dee," he said.


	22. Chapter 22

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 22 - WARRANT

0225hrs PST, Tuesday, 24 June  
Jump City – Titans Tower

Deckard was in the process of helping Cyborg transfer the last gigabyte of data from his computer to the main terminal when the other Titans walked in. Rick noticed that despite their brief respite, they still appeared to be half awake. Beast Boy, Raven and Starfire had all managed to get at least two hours of sleep while Cyborg had taken a few minutes to recharge his power cell. Even Deckard had managed to get a few winks in when he was unconscious, although it was a slightly less rejuvenating experience than a normal sleep cycle. Only Robin, from what he could discern, had not been able to sleep, although being a former member of the Dark Knights crew required a certain amount of nocturnal activity.

Rick meandered over to the kitchen sink and splashed some water on his face in a vain attempt to try and rouse himself awake. As he wiped his face with a towel he turned to see the Titans take their respective positions on the sofa with Robin standing in front of the large TV screen. His body language was the same as always; stiff yet confident, exuding an air about him that Deckard was gradually becoming accustomed to. As Rick walked back over to the quintet, Robin pulled a bat like device from his utility belt and hit a button. The sound of a low frequency whine could be heard coming from the speaker before a voice came through the air.

"_We're on_," said the crystal clear voice of Batman. He had left the cave a short time ago, after loosing communication with the League. Robin now turned to face Rick, his eyes narrowing.

"Go ahead, Deckard," he said.

"Well, going over what Cyborg and I have been able to uncover, SOLAR has the entire Justice League in custody. As a matter of fact, there are only nine individuals left to be apprehended, five of them being in this room right now," he began. The half-dazed looks on the faces of the Titans suddenly evaporated at the news of what had happened. Now having obtained their full attention, Deckard continued with his oration. "Additionally, the majority of agents assigned to those individuals have been…eliminated," said Deckard, pausing in an attempt to keep his composure. He swallowed before he verbalized the last word, the gravity of the situation seeming to hit him as he admitted to knowing what happened to his fellow agents. Nevertheless, he kept up with the debriefing. "We've been able to locate the internment facility. It's in Western Montana, the closest town being over fifty miles away. It's remote enough that the only way in is by air."

"_What do you mean the only way in_?" Asked Batman over the communicator.

"The last file that Cyborg and I uncovered showed that SOLAR is only going to inter certain individuals for so long before they begin…" Deckard couldn't finish the sentence, but he did not have to. The eyes of the Titans grew as wide as saucers and their mouths were agape. Robin simply contorted his face to look as angry as he possibly could while Cyborg hung his head. Deckard was not sure how to respond, and Batman must have picked up on that.

"_What do you propose_?" He asked calmly.

"We're going to rescue them. Cyborg and I have copied the entire database and have sent all the information to a contact I have at NSA, the Justice Department as well as the Director of the Bureau. They're going to come down hard on Taylor," said Deckard.

"_Here's something else. Donovan Taylor isn't actually who he says he is. His real name is Adrian Bose, a very affluent financier with ties to various terrorist organizations the world over. He's made a name for himself funding some of the most prolific terrorist's attacks in the last ten years_," said Batman through the communicator. Deckard was not surprised by the news and made it known.

"Whoever he is, I think he's acting alone for this one. I couldn't find any connection between him and government links to SOLAR anywhere in the database. Looks like he falsified a lot of documents and covered a lot of tracks to legitimize the true purpose for what this thing is. Truth be told, I don't think the governments of the world are aware of what's happened. With any luck, we'll get the support we need to help blow this wide open," said Deckard.

"_How can you be sure they will_?" Asked Batman.

"We sent the basic information to Summer Gleason and Lois Lane, and between the two of them, the whole country will be hearing about this come daybreak," said Deckard. That was a calculated risk, but Rick thought that if the country knew what had happened to its heroes and what they had been subjected to, the government would be forced to act. There was a long silence before the Dark Knight replied.

"_Well played. We'll meet you at the rendezvous point_," he said.

"We?" Asked Robin, surprised.

"_Huntress is with me_," he said.

"What about-"

"_They're combing over the data, looking for anything Deckard might have missed. If they find anything, I'll let you know_," replied Batman, cutting him off. Rick knew he had to be referring to Batgirl and Nightwing.

"All right, we'll see you in a few hours," said Robin in return and with that he flipped the communicator closed and placed it back in his utility belt.

"And I thought _you_ were pessimistic," said Rick towards the Boy Wonder. Robin simply brushed the comment off like it was nothing.

"So, now what?" Asked Cyborg from his spot on the sofa. The look in his, and all their eyes, was one of fear and curiosity. Deckard was unsure what to say, so he went with the first thing that came to his mind.

"Well, I'd have to say-" he was interrupted by the ring of his cell phone, which was odd. He had not received a call since he arrived in Jump City and even before that. The number the caller was dialing from was unknown, and even stranger was that Deckard had never received a call at 2:30 in the morning, ever. The possibility existed that it could be wrong number, but Rick had serious doubts about that, yet he elected to answer it anyway.

"Hello?" He said as he flipped open the phone.

"_I'm guessing Miss Radinov ran into a snag_," said the unmistakable voice of the man responsible for this whole thing. Rick paused before he answered.

"She went for a swim, Taylor, or should I say, Mister Bose?" Replied Deckard, trying to keep the anger within him bottled up so as stay in the realm of rational thought. He put the call through the speaker so the others could hear, yet motioned for them to remain silent.

"_My, that is unfortunate_," said Bose.

"What? The fact that your errand girl is dead or that I know who you are?" Asked Deckard in return.

"_Both, actually, though I put a contingency in place in the event something like this happened_," Bose said almost cheerfully.

"And what might that be?" Asked Deckard, curious as to his intentions.

"_Nothing extravagant, merely federal warrant for your arrest_," he said coyly.

"On what charges?"

"_Espionage, hacking a secure system, stealing government documents, not to mention the murder of a foreign national_," replied Bose in his normal matter-of-fact tone. Deckard began to think that there was more to this call than Bose was letting on.

"And I'm sure you found a way to make them stick," said Deckard.

"_Of course, son. Let me tell you, it was very noble of you to try to delete the Titans back-up files, but I made sure that no one could access them unless they were in the same place as where they are stored_," he said. Immediately Deckard knew where Bose was going with that but he opted to steer clear. He knew Bose was unsure of how much he knew and rather than make him privy to that information, Rick figured he would just keep him in the dark.

"I won't let you hurt them," replied Rick, sounding as convincing as he could. Bose merely laughed at the sentiment.

"_You don't really have a choice in the matter_," he replied. Deckard looked over at the Titans, their expressions visibly angry, and then back at the phone. Without another word he hit the "END" button and put the phone in his pocket. Robin was stunned.

"Why did you do that? He could have given us more information," he said. Deckard walked over to his laptop and looked over the files he had copied from the main computer. Satisfied he had what he needed, he decoupled it from the main terminal and put it in its case before he turned to face the Titans, but not before Robin confronted him. "What are you doing Deckard?"

"Do you all have regular clothes?" He asked. The expression on their faces changed from anger to one of confusion.

"What's going on?" Asked Cyborg, placing his hand on Rick's shoulder as the agent turned to face him.

"We have to get out of here. Agents are on the way, we need to move, _now_!" He exclaimed and he headed for the door. The Titans began to follow as Rick began to bark orders. "Go to your rooms, put on regular clothes and meet me downstairs. Cyborg, get the T-Sub ready to-" he was stopped short as Robin flipped in front of him, blocking the entrance to the door. Deckard stared him down, the height difference only about five inches, but it might as well have been five feet.

"Don't you _ever_ give anyone on this team an order," he said coldly. Deckard stood his ground.

"Look, Robin, I'm just as heated as you, but that thing Bose said was a warning. That's why he called me, to stall us, try and keep us here. Federal agents are going to hit this Tower, _soon_, and unless we get out now we're not going to be able to help Batman or anyone else on the League," he said. The other four simply stood behind the now rogue agent, yet Robin did not yield his position. Deckard sighed, looked around, knowing time was of the essence. "You're a better leader for this group than I could ever hope to be, and I'm not trying to take that away from you, but we need to get out of here and we need to do it _now_." Robin took a step back before he allowed his body to relax.

"What's your plan?" He asked. Deckard looked back at the other four, their faces still fraught with concern.

"Follow me, I'll tell you on the way," he said and with that they walked through the door to the living room and made their way towards the bedrooms. "They'll be looking for us so each of you needs to dress in a set of civilian clothes. Bring a uniform with you but don't wear it. Get down to the T-Sub and follow me to the docks, I'll explain the rest there," he said. The Titans understood where he was coming from but were still confused as to how this plan Deckard was formulating would work.

"Uh, Dee, the T-Sub is only gonna fit the five of us, what are you gonna do?" Asked Cyborg holding his hands out, palms up in a questioning manner.

"I still have a JCPD uniform _and_ a marked police Jet Ski. If they see me, they'll think I'm just regular five oh out cruising the Bay," replied Deckard continuing down the hall towards the bedrooms.

"Dude, are you for real? You're willing to let these fed baddies see you?" Asked Garfield, his voice conveying concern, though Rick did not let him know he heard it.

"Bose doesn't know how I got out here, for all he knows I paddled out here in a canoe," Rick replied, trying to bring a sense of levity to the situation, though no one seemed to find it funny.

"OK, so we book it in the T-Sub and you blast outta here on the Ski, then what?" Asked Cyborg, who seemed to be having serious doubts about the plan.

"Follow me to the Marine Patrol dock, that's where my car is. From there, we drive to the field office and switch vehicles. No one will be there for another five hours, so by the time they realize what's happened we'll be on our way to Montana," he said as the group stopped in front of Ravens' room. The five heroes still looked unsure as to if the plan would work, until Cyborg chimed in again.

"We're going to _drive_ to Montana?"

"No guys, but flying out of here in the T-Ship is going to alert every law enforcement agency on the west coast. If we make it out of the city incognito, then Cyborg, you have the T-Ship rendezvous with us once we get outside the city limits. Then we _fly_ to Montana," replied Rick emphatically. To this, the Titans seemed to be more enthusiastic, which was a good sign, but Rick wanted to verify that this was the best course of action. "Look guys, unless any of you have a better plan, we need to get going," he said. No one said anything until Robin spoke up.

"You heard him, Titans. Let's move!" He said and with that the four other teens broke ranks and ran or flew to their respective rooms to don their disguises leaving Raven and Deckard to themselves. Raven looked up at Rick, the look of absolute stone cold control still prevalent on her face, just like it always was. Casually she brushed past him as the door to her room opened with Rick right behind her. Without a second thought he walked over to the heap of clothes on the floor and removed the JCPD wetsuit, grabbed the helmet lying next to it and disappeared into the bathroom. He pulled off his clothes and quickly donned the suit, buckling the duty belt and holstering his HK 45 on his right thigh. He adjusted the radio in the helmet to pick up the marine traffic in the Bay, the Coast Guard channel in particular. Once properly tuned, he put the helmet on his head and tightened it in place.

"All right, let's go," he said to himself as he took a quick glance in the mirror, and with that he left the bathroom. He walked back into the bedroom to find Raven was gone, probably on her way down to the launch bay. Rick stopped briefly, looking around her room and then walking over to her bed. Slowly he removed the glove on his right hand and took off the necklace with his father's handcuff key still attached. He placed it under one of the pillows before putting the glove back on his hand, then turned on his heel and headed for the door.

...

Robin stepped out of the elevator to find his team already waiting for him. Cyborg had opted to wear a grey hooded sweatshirt with black pants and gloves. These effectively hid all the metallic components of his body save for his red ocular implant. Beast Boy was hard pressed to find anything that could hide his green skin, but being stricken with Sakutia, it was not an entirely unheard of condition. He had gone with a black t-shirt, grey pants and white sneakers. Starfire was clad in a purple dress that went down to her knees, though her orange skin was surely going to cause suspicion if she was seen. Raven had elected to wear a blue hooded sweatshirt that covered her chakra effectively, and the black jeans she was wearing were very inconspicuous. Robin had opted to go with blue jeans, a white button-down collared shirt and wrap around sunglasses despite it being almost 3:00AM.

"Let's go," said Robin and with that the team moved to their respective positions in the T-Sub. Once all of them were strapped in, they powered up the ship. "Begin launch sequence," said Robin over the microphone.

"Main power, online," replied Beast Boy.

"Oxygen tanks at maximum," said Starfire.

"Defensive systems, active," said Raven.

"Twin turbo hydro jets are good to go," replied Cyborg. The T-Sub suddenly dropped below the water line and into the main launch tunnel, which illuminated so that they could see down its length to the open water of the Bay. With all systems go, Robin gave the signal.

"Titans, launch!" He shouted into the mic. The T-Sub vibrated slightly and then lurched forward, the lights in the tunnel beginning to streak by as the vessel picked up speed. Once outside the tunnel, the blackness of the water around them engulfed the submarine, only the faint glow of the control panel lights providing any illumination. "Keep the lights off until we get away from the Tower. Don't want to give away our position," said Robin.

"Sonar contact," said Cyborg.

"What is it?" Asked Robin.

"Engine harmonics and hull signature match a Kawasaki Jet Ski. It's heading east, fast," replied Cyborg.

"Sounds like Deckard. Lock onto it and follow, minimum power to engines," said Robin. The T-Sub maneuvered to the right and began to follow the Jet Ski into the docks. Even at close to 65 mph on the surface, the pace was horrendously slow for the T-Sub. As they continued to follow Deckard, they picked up three more sonar contacts, but these were heading the opposite direction. The vessels passed by each other without incident, and the Titans wondered if the other three boats were the agents sent to silence them.


	23. Chapter 23

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 23 - PURSUIT

0255hrs PST, Tuesday, 24 June  
Jump City – JCPD Marine Patrol Unit Dock

Rick shut off the motor to the Ski as he pulled up to the dock, coasting into the slip where the vessel would remain. He grabbed a line from the dock and tied the Ski off; making sure the rope was attached to a cleat and then disembarked the watercraft. He looked around cautiously, unsure if any officers were working this late. He had been on edge since he left the Tower, but he was still trying to shake the adrenaline rush of watching three black rigid-hull Zodiac boats heading in the opposite direction. The absence of any moonlight would hide their presence to anyone without night vision, but thankfully Rick could see them clear as day as he passed them. One of the agents even waved at him as he went by, and it took all the fortitude Deckard had to return the gesture. Slowly, he walked to the end of the dock, continuing to look around for any signs of trouble.

The water directly in front of the dock began to bubble slightly, eventually revealing a large object that was golden in color and adorned with five blister-like canopies. As the T-Sub breached the surface, there was very little noise apart from the sound of displaced liquid. Each canopy opened quickly, revealing each Titan as Deckard had never seen them before. He had to admit that their choice of clothing, given the circumstances, probably was not the best option for going undercover, but there was nothing he could do about it now. After all the crew had stepped off the sub and onto the dock, Cyborg hit a switch on his left arm, sealing the cockpits and submerging the T-Sub beneath the waters surface.

"C'mon," said Deckard, his voice masked by the helmets digital synthesizer. He figured that they had picked up the other three boats on sonar and realized that was probably the reason why they had not said anything about them. The group of eclectic teens followed him down the dock, through a fenced gate and out to the parking lot. There, right were he left it, was the blue Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. "Get in," he said, turning his head either direction to make sure that they were not being followed. Cyborg, being the biggest of the Titans, took shotgun while the rest crammed into the back seats. Rick waited until everyone was inside before he turned the key to start the ignition. Placing his hand on the steering column-mounted shifter, he put his foot on the brake and dropped the vehicle from "P" to "D", flicked on the headlights and pressed the gas pedal. As the vehicle left the MPU dock, they turned left coming out of the wharf area and began following the GPS advised route back to the field office. They were approaching their first intersection when the light turned red. "We don't have time for this," said Deckard, trying to keep his resentment to himself. It did not go unnoticed.

"What are you doing Dee?" Asked Cyborg. Without answering, Rick hit a series of buttons on a console mounted between the driver and passenger seats. Suddenly the facades of the surrounding buildings began to flash red and blue, then the sound of a siren pierced the air, echoing down the concrete canyons created by the cityscape. Deckard slowed as he approached the intersection but at three o'clock in the morning, there was little worry of encountering cross traffic. The Crown Vic flew through the intersection and continued down the street at speed, now in full response mode.

"Don't you think running code is going to rouse suspicion?" Asked Robin, sticking his head between the seats so he could talk to Rick directly.

"The Feds are working all kinds of cases at any given time. FBI, DEA, ATF and they usually only keep the locals abreast of what's going on half the time. JCPD won't question an unmarked car with government plates going code through the city," replied Deckard. He turned the wheel and made a right onto a cross street, continuing through three more intersections before making another left. When the GPS unit indicated he was within a mile of the field office, he killed the lights and siren and dropped his speed. As the cruiser approached the cast iron gate, Rick hit a button on a remote that allowed the vehicle into the parking lot. The Titans looked on at the other vehicles as well as the illuminated sign to their right; the emblem of the Bureau placarded above the words "JUMP CITY – FIELD OFFICE."

Deckard pulled the CVPI around and into a parking spot close to the building, turning off the ignition once he stopped and then exited the vehicle, his head on a swivel.

"And you don't think this isn't just a _little_ crazy, Dee?" Asked Cyborg who was looking around with an equal amount of nervousness.

"Exactly why they wouldn't look for us here," replied Rick, his voice still masked by the helmet. He briskly walked up to the door of the Field Office and removed his keycard from his wallet. He swiped it through the reader and watched as the LED indicator went from bright red to green. Quickly he hustled the five teens inside before following them in, completely unaware that his keycard had been tagged and his entry had been logged.

...

Adrian Bose was sitting in his office in Washington, awaiting the word of Deckard's arrest and the subsequent apprehension of the Teen Titans. It was much to his surprise, then, when a security alert appeared on his computer screen, informing him that someone with Agent Rick Deckards' keycard had just accessed the Jump City Field Office. The initial state of disbelief was short lived, however, because Bose had a feeling that Deckard would try to run. Chances were the Titans were with him as well.

"Well, well, Agent Deckard," he said to himself, "looks as though you've managed to elude my operatives. So, I'll do what every other normal citizen does when someone breaks in." He turned in his chair and picked up the telephone receiver on his desk, pulling up a number for the Jump City Police Department on his computer as he pressed the headset to his ear. Once he found it, it quickly punched it in. It rang once before a female voice on the other end of the line picked up.

"Jump City Police Department, dispatch," she said.

"This is Special Agent Taylor with the FBI. I have some information regarding the whereabouts of a wanted federal fugitive _within_ your jurisdiction."

...

Deckard was frantically digging through a desk, trying to find anything that would be of use. The Titans were simply looking around like they had never been in a federal building before. Deckard slammed one of the drawers shut and looked over at Cyborg, who was acting as lookout.

"Cy, what's the control number on that black Tahoe in the parking lot?" He asked. Cyborg looked at him somewhat perplexed. "The three digit number on the dash," Deckard elaborated. Cyborg, now comprehending what he meant, responded quickly.

"Three two seven," he said squinting his eyes as he looked out towards the parking lot. Rick ran over to a lock box and looked over at Robin. "Can I borrow one of those bird-a-rangs?" He asked holding out his hand. Robin looked at him as if he had lost his mind, then Rick remembered that he did not have his utility belt with him.

"I got it," said Raven, and with that her eyes transformed into a bright white light as she held up her hand. With a loud snap, the lock on the box popped and the door opened, revealing several sets of keys. Rick retrieved the ones under number 327 and with them in hand, walked over to another desk and found a second set of keys, these containing a more lethal arsenal. He unlocked the cabinet above the desk and pulled it open, revealing a plethora of ammunition, magazines and pistols. He grabbed two magazines chambered for his caliber as well as one box of ammunition and began feeding rounds into them. This caught Robins attention.

"Is that really necessary?" He asked, looking on as Rick slipped the first loaded magazine into a holder on the duty belt. Deckard failed to let the question distract him.

"I hope not, but you never know," he replied as he finished loading the second magazine. He then pulled the pistol out of its holster and topped off the mag that was already loaded, having fired two rounds off. Now fully loaded with 30 rounds of .45 caliber, Rick closed the cabinet, locked it back up and placed the key back in the desk. "OK, I'd say we're good, let's get out of here," he said and with that Cyborg opened the door. Deckard ran outside at nearly a full sprint, hitting the unlock button on the key fob as they approached the SUV. Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks. "The laptop, it's-"

"I believe you are referring to this?" Said Starfire, holding the case in her hands. Deckard had been so focused on getting in, grabbing the keys and getting out he had almost forgotten the most crucial thing to the success of their mission. Rick was relieved that she had remembered it.

"Good work Star, now come on, let's beat it," said Rick and with that he opened the drivers side door, stepped on the running board and into the seat. He put the key in the ignition but did not turn it over yet. The other Titans climbed into the back, with Cyborg taking shotgun again. As Deckard reached over to grab his seat belt buckle, he was hit with a beam of light shining directly into the vehicle.

"Gah! What is that?" Asked Cyborg, shielding his eyes with his right hand. The other Titans were blinded by it as well. Rick could not see it, but knew exactly what it was and fastened his seat belt.

"Everybody strapped in?" He asked.

"Yeah, but wha-"

"_Occupants of the vehicle, this is the police. Step out with your hands over your head_," said a male voice over the PA system. Deckard could now make out the flashing red and blue LED light bar atop the cruiser, the spotlight shining right in his face.

"How did they find us?" Asked Beast Boy as he tried to shield his face from the glaring light.

"Bose, he must have tagged my keycard, knew I accessed the building," replied Deckard.

"Dude, there's just something twisted about when the cops call the cops," said BB in return.

"This wasn't part of the plan, was it Dee?" Cyborg interrupted sarcastically. Deckard turned the key to the SUVs ignition which in turn caused the officers to draw their weapons.

"_Driver, turn off the vehicle and step out_ now!" Commanded the voice through the PA speaker. Deckard gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles and put his foot on the brake. There was no turning back now.

"Deckard, what are you doing?" Asked Robin excitedly as Rick pressed down on the brake pedal and dropped the vehicle into drive.

"_Driver! This is your last warning! Step out of the vehicle_ now!" Commanded the officer through the PA. The next sound to piece the air was the screeching of the SUVs tires against the pavement as Deckard pushed the gas pedal to the floor. The tires belched smoke as the vehicle flew out of the gate and turned ninety degrees in front of the police cruiser, sending one of the officers diving for cover, the other running away from the careening vehicle. As the SUV fishtailed around in front of the marked Crown Vic, Rick pushed the pedal down as hard as he could and watched as the needle on the speedometer shoot upwards. The tachometer climbed steadily, the roar of the engine could be heard in the cabin of the SUV. A quick glance over at Cyborg showed he was holding onto the proverbial 'oh shit' handle and staring straight ahead.

"Cy…Cy! Switch the radio over to JCPD frequency, now! Raven, give me a sit rep on how many we have behind us," he exclaimed. He looked up ahead as two police units turned towards him from cross streets, their lights ablaze and sirens blaring. A glance in his rear view mirror showed the unit he just passed was now in pursuit and closing the distance between them. As if to confirm what he already knew, Cyborg found the radio frequency just in time to hear the call come over the air.

"_Unit forty seven, dispatch, in pursuit of stolen government vehicle, black Chevrolet Tahoe, government license number seven three one seven juliet delta echo. Vehicle is occupied multiple times, unknown number of suspects inside. Requesting back up and air unit to our location, currently southbound on Ward Avenue._" Said the same voice that was giving commands to them over the PA just moments before.

"_Roger unit forty seven, back up is en route. ETA on Air One, fifteen minutes_," said the female voice of the dispatcher. Deckard now looked as the two units ahead tried to corral him to turn on the street to his right, but he managed to slow down and weave around the stopped cruisers. He floored the accelerator again and made a beeline for what he thought was a freeway entrance ramp at the end of the street.

"We've got four units behind us," said Raven who had her eyes glued out the back window. She watched as the two units they had just passed waited until the following cars passed them before they turned around to continue the pursuit.

"_Unit forty seven, all units, we'll take lead position_," said the voice over the radio. Rick realized then that there was no ramp to the freeway and whipped the wheel to the right, turning on a frontage road running adjacent to the freeway, the sound of the sirens getting closer behind him.

"Where the hell is the freeway on ramp, Cyborg?" Asked Rick almost pleadingly, not taking his eyes off the road ahead.

"How should I know? I hardly ever drive on this side of town!" Yelled Cyborg, now looking out the window at the units fast approaching from behind. Rick turned to the left on another street that was lined with street lights, not exactly a good spot to be once the helicopter got overhead. He looked for another intersection and turned left again, the lights of the units behind him visible against the faces of the buildings.

"_Unit forty seven, unit thirty eight, advise location of your pursuit_," said another voice across the airwaves.

"_Unit thirty eight, unit forty seven, suspect vehicle currently headed east on Carruthers_," said the voice of the primary unit. At least now Deckard had a direction and a location. He knew that he had to get to cover before the helicopter got to them, otherwise it would be all over.

"_Ten four, unit forty seven, I'm heading east on Rice adjacent to your position_," replied the other voice. Rick immediately made a right turn on the next street and watched as the police cruiser passed in front of him continuing in the same direction it had been.

"Still have at least three on our tail," said Raven, her voice untouched by emotion. Robin was looking out as many windows as possible, trying to get a fix on their location. Garfield, by this point, was a half torn between being excited and scared out of his mind.

"_Unit forty seven, unit thirty eight, suspect vehicle is now south on Fike_." That must have come from the unit that just passed in front of them. Rick now turned to the right again, presumably heading west, back in the direction they had initially come from.

"_Unit forty seven, dispatch, ETA on Air One_?"

"_Air One advising ETA of twelve minutes, unit forty seven_," said the female voice of the dispatcher.

"_Unit forty seven, unit twenty six, suspect vehicle is now heading northbound on Newsome_." Deckard looked in his mirror to see a unit pull out from one of the side streets and turn on the lights and siren.

"How many Raven?" Rick asked emphatically. Raven simply stared at the onslaught of red and blue lights now behind the SUV; it reminded her of a picture she'd seen of the Las Vegas Strip. Robin leaned back over the rear seat and saw it as well.

"You _don't_ wanna know," he said. Just then the voice of the dispatcher came over the police radio again.

"_Dispatch to all units involved in the pursuit, be advised, Air One has updated ETA of nine minutes_."

"We need to get off this road," said Rick and he was about to turn right again when he saw a sign for the freeway up ahead. Looking at it, he wasn't sure what direction he should go, but suddenly he got an idea. "Cyborg, can you control the T-Sub from here?" He asked excitedly.

"Yeah, but what-"

"Have it stay submerged underneath the bridge, just after midspan," said Rick. He looked up at the signs for the freeway and found the one he was looking for; the one that lead to the airport and back across the bridge.

"What is that gonna do?" Asked Cyborg emphatically.

"Just do it!" Screamed Rick as he veered to the left of the entrance ramp, narrowly avoiding the water barriers that marked the divide between the north and south ramps. The unit that was directly behind them, however, did not make the maneuver in time and slammed headlong into the yellow water barriers, sending liquid splashing across the ramp. The remaining units passed by at speed, still trying to keep up with the SUV.

"_Unit forty seven, dispatch, unit twenty six involved in a TC at entrance to one oh one on-ramp southbound, still in pursuit of suspect vehicle_."

"_Ten four, unit forty seven. Unit twenty six, status_?" Asked the dispatcher.

"_Ten four, dispatch_," replied the unlucky officer. That was one unit down, but there were still five behind the SUV and closing the distance. Rick fought the wheel to keep the SUV planted on the gradual curve of the entrance ramp, keeping the needle pinned at just over 90 miles per hour. As the ramp leveled out, the large suspension bridge lay out in front of them, and right in the middle was a sea of flashing lights.

"_Unit forty seven, unit seventy five, we have the bridge blocked just after midspan_." Said a new voice over the radio. _Shit_ thought Deckard; _they're going to force us to stop_. Quickly he looked behind to see that his initial pursuers were not going to give up even with the advent of a roadblock.

"_Unit forty seven, Air One, we are three minutes out, advise your location_." The voice of the helicopter pilot was somewhat distorted by the whine of the aircraft engine, but now they were running out of time. Deckard turned to Cyborg again, hoping he had done what he asked.

"Is the sub in place?"

"Ready and waiting," he said. Deckard turned to face Robin.

"_Air One, unit forty seven, location is southbound one oh one, just reached the bridge_."

"_Roger unit forty seven_."

"Do you have any smoke bombs on you?" To his surprise, Robin reached in his pocket and pulled out three metallic orbs. "Awesome, give three to BB and take three for you," said Rick, refocusing his attention on the road ahead. He was still traveling close to 100 so as to keep distance between himself and the pursuing cruisers. Robin and Beast Boy looked at each other and skewed before Robin handed Garfield three of the bombs. "Raven?" Asked Deckard.

"I count six now," she said in response.

"Forget that; listen, when I tell you to I want you to envelope the car in an orb of dark energy. Can you do that?" Asked Deckard, looking back at her in the rear view mirror. Her demeanor did not change and she seemed confused as to why he was asking her to do such a thing, but she nodded in acknowledgement. "Good. Starfire, get in the back of the truck," said Deckard.

"For what purpose do you want to put me back there?" She asked curiously.

"You're going to use your strength to slow us down," replied Deckard. Before anyone could ask him what he was planning he looked over at Cyborg again. "Get ready to turn on that cannon," he said with as an intense look as Cyborg had ever seen on him. Without a word, Cyborg transformed his hand into his signature sonic cannon and nodded. Whether he knew what Deckard had planned was irrelevant, he just knew that his services were needed. "All right, now, when I give the word Robin, you and BB throw those smoke bombs in both directions, got it?"

"Got it," the boys said simultaneously.

"Raven, Star, get ready," he said and with that he pushed the accelerator down as far as it would go.

"_Unit forty seven, Air One, advise, we have the suspect vehicle in sight. Lighting him up_," said the voice of the helicopter pilot. The area in front of the SUV suddenly turned white from the helicopter spotlight being shined down on them. Deckard stared directly at the roadblock up ahead, the flashing lights getting closer as the distance between he and the police closed at an alarming rate. He guesstimated that he would be at the mid-span of the bridge in another fifteen seconds.

"Wait for it…wait for it…" he muttered to himself. Cyborg held his arm out the window, sonic cannon primed and ready. Robin was hanging out the rear passenger side window with the smoke bombs in his hand looking forward while Beast Boy was out the rear driver side window looking back. Raven sat between the two of them, her eyes awash with white, ready to summon all her power. Starfire was pressed into the back of the truck, ready to use her alien strength to do whatever Deckard had planned.

"_Unit forty seven, all units, suspect is gonna run the roadblock! Break off! Break off_!" That was the moment Deckard was waiting for.

"Now!" Screamed Rick as loud as he could. He took his foot off the accelerator and slammed on the brake while turning the wheel to the right, towards the barrier wall on the side of the bridge. Cyborg fired a burst from his sonic cannon just as Robin and BB let their smoke bombs fly in their respective directions, the small orbs flying quite a good distance before exploding and shrouding any view of the SUV from both the pursuing units and the cruisers in the roadblock. Deckard watched as everything around him grew dark just before the SUV drove through the hole that Cyborg had blasted in the barrier wall. With no road surface beneath it, the SUV began to plummet towards the water below, going into a nose dive from the weight of the engine. The speed with which they were falling would easily kill them all, and Rick hoped that Starfire was as strong as his reports had led him to believe. As if she was able to read his thoughts, the rate at which the vehicle fell slowed to a much saner level and he could hear her straining to slow the vehicle down as it got closer to the waters surface.

The SUV hit the water still enveloped by the dark energy Raven was radiating. As the vehicle sank, the occupants remained dry inside their dark energy bubble, but needed to locate the T-Sub quickly. Cyborg activated the homing beacon on his arm and found it was only ten yards to their right. Raven increased the orb around the SUV until it encompassed the T-Sub and Starfire flew Cyborg and Robin over to the vehicle while Beast Boy flew over himself. Deckard had not thought of where he would fit until Raven approached from behind, grabbed him and flew him over to her cockpit compartment before entering it herself. With all occupants secure, the dark energy orb disappeared and the T-Sub was once again enveloped in black, save for the faint beam of light from the helicopter overhead, frantically searching for the vehicle that had just flown off the bridge. Slowly the submarine moved away from the bridge and north underneath the water of the Bay. As usual, Beast Boy was the first to break the silence.

"_Dudes_! That was the _coolest_ car chase _ever_!" He exclaimed into the microphone.

"Dee, I just got one thing to say: _Booyah_!" Came the ever encouraging word from Cyborg.

"I believe the correct term of endearment for this occasion would be, awesome," said Starfire.

"I have to admit, Deckard, your plan was pretty crazy…but effective," said Robin as calmly as possible. Rick was unable to tell whether he was smiling or not, but had a feeling that somehow he had impressed the Boy Wonder to a degree.

"You realize how over the top that was, right?" Said Raven, her body pressed up against the right side of the capsule. Deckard was glad that both she and he were rather slim bodied, because there was no way this would work with anyone of Cyborgs size.

"Yeah, but it worked," he said, which he thought prompted a slight smirk to appear on her face.

"So, now that all the cops within a thousand miles are looking for us, what do we do?" Asked Beast Boy.

"We should stay submerged, work our way north, upriver, at least until daybreak. Then we can high tail it to Montana," said Deckard into Ravens' microphone, their faces uncomfortably close. Deckard had not realized it until he saw Raven give him a look he had never seen before. He backed away, slowly, slightly embarrassed at what he had just done. There was a pause before Robin replied.

"Agreed, I don't think any of us are in any condition to get there tonight. I'll call Batman and explain the situation, the rest of you, get some sleep, we're going to need it for tomorrow," he said and with that, the microphone went dead.


	24. Chapter 24

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 24 – ENCAPSULATED

0341hrs PST, Tuesday, 24 June  
Jump City – Jump City Bay

The cockpit was encased in darkness with only the faint glow of the control panel emitting any light. Rick was squashed up against the left side of the seat, his hip pressed against the metal paneling on the side. Raven was an equally awkward position on the right. His right and her left leg were pressed firmly against one another in the middle of the seat, creating an uneasy feeling among them both. It had been about ten minutes since Raven had turned off her microphone when she heard Robin give the order to shut down for the night. Cyborg was piloting the craft at the moment, though eventually he would need to recharge and the autopilot would take over. There was a long period of silence before either of them spoke.

"What you did back there was pretty amazing," said Deckard, focusing his attention straight ahead at nothing.

"Thanks, although, driving off a bridge was pretty amazing too," she said copying his body language. Another tense minute followed before the silence lifted again.

"Look, I-"they both said simultaneously, each effectively quieting the other.

"Ladies first," said Deckard. Raven brushed her violet hair back and looked at Rick and she did, the radiance in her eyes seemingly swallowed up by the surrounding darkness.

"What were you going to say back at the Tower, before miss psycho commando showed up?" She asked him genuinely. Deckard was surprised by the question.

"I, uh, I don't know. I was under the impression that I wanted to say…something, but…I guess I wasn't thinking clearly," he replied. The look on her face conveyed that, having heard that line before, she refused believe him.

"Yes you did, you knew exactly-"

"If you already know, why bother asking?" Asked Deckard with his own question, cutting her off, though it was not curt.

"Because…it's nice to actually hear it from the person," she said just barely above a whisper. Rick had to admit that she had a point. He looked at her, a woe of sadness seeming to wash over her and slowly she turned to face away from him, her gaze now staring out into the blackness, and closed her eyes. Rick, now boiling over with emotion, put his right hand on her left leg.

"Rae…I'm not very good at this, so I'm just going to say it. I like you, I mean I _really_ like you. I think you're amazing, not just because of your powers or because of how beautiful you are. You're a lot like me in a lot of ways, and the fact that you're a superheroine just adds to that mystique," he said as sincerely as he could. She opened her eyes and turned back to face him.

"You don't think I'm…creepy?"

"Creepy? No…you're _dark_, don't get me wrong, but beneath that stone cold exterior beats a warm heart. A heart I'm betting pains to feel any emotion yet knows that it can't experience them at their fullest because of what might happen," he said as he looked her in the eyes. He still had his hand on her leg while both of hers were still down, off of him.

"And you really think I'm beautiful?" She asked with baited breath.

"Raven, I have never seen your equal," he replied. Suddenly he felt her left hand reach out and touch his side, but could not determine if it was purposeful or involuntary.

"Why? How?" She asked, almost pleadingly.

"How what?"

"How can you have these feelings for me?" She asked as she leaned in closer to him. She seemed to be pushing Rick farther back against the side of the cockpit.

"I don't know…I just…do. Call it simple attraction, biochemistry, cupid, I don't really know," he said as she continued to lean into him. They were now locked in a stare neither one was willing to break off. Suddenly, he felt her other hand move over top of his, positioning her body so that she frontally faced him. "Raven, I…I don't think that-"she leaned in, her lips getting closer to his, quivering with anticipation. He could feel her hot breath on his lips; she was so close, until finally the rift between them vanished. Her lips contacted his, softly at first and then gradually pressing her full body weight into him. They both closed their eyes, and Ravens hands where sliding up to Ricks shoulders. Deckard knew to keep his hands right where they were to not make it seem like he was after something else, though his present situation was dictating other bodily actions. Slowly she pulled away from him, opening her eyes as she drew back. They seemed to stare into each other for what seemed like eternity before she spoke again.

"Come here," she said coyly and motioned for him to fully sit in the seat. Rick waited for her to maneuver so that he could sit in the proper position. Raven had collapsed the steering column into the console, so there was more room in the not-so-spacious cockpit. She allowed herself to stand, slightly hunched over, with Rick's legs between hers. Rick could only make out her dark silhouette against the soft glow of the console lights, but he did not need to see that she was pulling off her sweatshirt and casting it to the side of the compartment. He was so transfixed that he almost failed to notice she was removing her trousers as well, leaving them on the floor of the cabin. Deckard now realized the majority of the blood flowing to his brain was now being redirected someplace farther south.

She reached out with her right hand and unzipped the front of the JCPD wetsuit Rick was still wearing until it bottomed out. Rick allowed his eyes to survey as much of her as he could take in with the low light, but could clearly make out her smooth pale legs as they stood out like white marble in the blackness. His eyes continued to track upward, trying to burn every image into his memory. The little black laced silk that hugged her body tightly around the hips sent a shiver up his spine. The thin straps leading inward towards her lower stomach and dipped down in the center made him swallow involuntarily. As his eyes continued their journey up her waist they skimmed past her flat, cut stomach and farther to her blossoming chest. The laced black straps and thin obsidian material were completely trivial and he plainly could not help but stare at her budding cleavage. Her body was mesmerizing, to the point of breathlessness. Every bodily impulse screamed for him to do something, but he sat there, frozen. Suddenly she wrapped both hands around his neck as she leaned forward again for another kiss, which he reciprocated perfectly. When she backed off, Rick was in worse shape then he was before, her silhouette outlined by the faint glow of light with the rest of her body blacked out. As she moved forward again, Rick pulled both arms out of the wetsuit. With them free, he pulled Raven close to him, kissing her with more passion than he thought he was capable of.

As the T-Sub continued to travel beneath the waters of Jump City Bay, the feelings that Raven and Rick had for each other surfaced. They were careful to keep their primal urges in check, for they knew that if they did not, it could have dire consequences in the future; especially their immediate future.

...

"What do you mean they're not there?" Asked a rather agitated Adrian Bose.

"Just what I told you, sir. Right after they went off the bridge, we had three helicopters and every boat in the Marine Patrol out looking for them. Called in the Coast Guard and the local National Guard unit to help with the search. We have the banks of the Bay lined for ten miles in each direction on both sides," said the voice from the other end of the line. It was a captain from the Jump City Police Department, undoubtedly one of the watch commanders. He was overseeing the search, or recovery, of the individuals who stole a government vehicle from the FBI Field Office there. Bose knew exactly who they were, but neglected to tell the officer.

"Keep me informed, captain," said Bose and with that he hung up the receiver. He knew that if Deckard and the Titans were not at the bottom of the Bay that they had escaped. He also knew that there could only be one place that they would go. Without hesitation, Bose got up, walked out the door and closed it behind him; he had a plane to catch.


	25. Chapter 25

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 25 – RENDEZVOUS

1317hrs MST, Tuesday, 24 June  
Western Montana – 47°7'12.44"N, 112°39'12.39"W

"We'll be entering range of their radar in six minutes," said Cyborg over the headset speakers.

"Electronic jamming, engaged," replied Raven, pressing a series of buttons on the console to her left.

"Going down to low level," said Robin as the T-Ship dropped its nose and began to descend through the thick cumulus clouds. As they got below the cloud cover, the six occupants of the ship could clearly make out the Rocky Mountains as they stretched out for miles in each direction. When the T-Ship descended closer to the ground, the indiscernible patches slowly came into focus as large clusters of trees or vast expanses of wild grass. Cyborg helped Robin level off the aircraft at close to tree top level, what military pilots call nap-of-the-Earth, following the terrain as it rose and fell. Their altitude was fluctuating constantly, a proverbial roller coaster across the hills and mountains of the Montana countryside. The constant up and down was starting to wreak havoc on Beast Boy and Ravens internals. Rick tried to ease her queasiness but it was all for not and eventually she had to vomit in one of the airsickness bags provided in her capsule. The smell was almost enough to make Deckard puke.

"In range, target's coming up," said Robin. Ahead in the distance was a large break in the tree line and was relatively flat for the geography. There were small pockets around this evidently man-made clearing and Robin maneuvered the T-Ship to land in one of these sequestered clearings. As the ship touched down, the Titans geared up. The majority of them were still dressed in their civilian attire from their escapade the previous evening, though most of them had elected to put on at least some of their uniform items to save time when they finally arrived on scene. Raven had elected to put on her leotard after Deckard and she had finished performing mutual tonsillectomies on each other. Neither one had spoken to the other since what transpired last night, but they did not need to. Their mission, their focus, was on stopping Bose and SOLAR here and now; any distractions could jeopardize that mission.

Cautiously the sextet left the ship and walked several feet into the heavily wooded pine forest, only to stop as they approached a perimeter fence beyond which was nothing but barren land. Three feet of space separated the fence from the tree line. The trees were conifers, tall with pine cones strewn throughout the ground, except for the area between the fence and the forest edge. Deckard surmised that it must be a footpath for the perimeter guards, and the presence of boot prints in the dirt along the path only confirmed his suspicion. Rick signaled for the other Titans to stay hidden but called for Beast Boy to come forward to where he was, behind a large bush.

"That's got to be a footpath for the guards. Can you get up in the trees and tell me when one's coming?" Asked Deckard.

"No problem," said Garfield and with that he morphed into an eagle and flapped his wings to perch on one of the large pines branches, some 25 feet off the forest floor. Rick was still wearing the JCPD wetsuit, not exactly an inconspicuous uniform in this particular environment. Deckard looked up at Beast Boy with a sharp eye and the stare he got back from the green eagle was one of reassurance.

After about twenty minutes, Rick watched as BB flew down from his perch on the tree and landed on the ground, morphing into a deer. The now rather magnificent, but green, 12 point buck strode out towards the fence line, onto the footpath, only to bound back into the woods. As he passed the bush Deckard was hiding behind, he morphed into a mountain lion, the slender green cat almost invisible against the foliage. Rick could hear footsteps of someone approaching, and noticed a black suited figure come into view. Through the leaves of his hiding place, Deckard could see that the guard was wearing a motorcycle-style full-face helmet, black body suit with armor plating on the chest, torso, elbows, forearms, knees and shins. He carried an HK XM8 assault rifle and a pistol slung on his right thigh. His belt was stocked with an arsenal of grenades, ammunition pouches and other tools that Rick could not readily identify. The most important thing, however, was that his build was close to Deckard's size.

The black clad sentry moved off the footpath and into the brush, looked around slowly, then continued farther into the forest. He seemed weary, but his rifle was slung over his shoulder, meaning he did not feel threatened. When he approached a bare patch of dirt he stopped and kneeled down to examine the hoof print left by the deer he saw from a distance. Slowly, he stood back up and to his surprise was staring into the eyes of a very large, and very green, mountain lion. The guard froze for a moment before starting to step back slowly, taking his rifle off his shoulder as he did so. His focus on the threat looming in front of him left his rear unguarded, which Deckard took advantage of. Deckard was able to secure the guard around the neck and put him in an effective sleeper hold. After a brief few seconds, the guard went limp and Rick eased him onto the ground and began stripping him of his weapons and equipment. Beast Boy morphed back into his human form and looked on.

"Nice distraction," said Deckard.

"Thanks…is he…ya know?" Asked the young green teenager, hoping that this sentry was only knocked out.

"No, I really didn't want to kill him unless I had to. He'll be out for a while though," replied Deckard as he shed the JCPD wetsuit for the black armored body glove. He grabbed the side zipper with his left hand and pulled it upwards, then adjusted the armor plating so that it covered the correct areas. He removed the Beretta M9 pistol from the thigh holster and unloaded it, tossing it to the side of the knocked out guard. He replaced it with the trusty HK 45 that was his personal weapon. The downside to switching pistols was that even though the HK was more powerful, the magazines only held 10 rounds, whereas the Beretta's magazines held 15 a piece. Despite the cut in ammunition Rick wanted to be sure that if he had to put a round into someone they would stay down, and nine millimeter slugs just would not guarantee that. He checked the XM8, a gas operated, rotating bolt assault rifle that fired 5.56mm rounds at close to 750 per minute. It was loaded with a 30 round magazine and another five were loaded in the belt. This particular variant was equipped with a 20" barrel as opposed to the normal 12.5", meaning that it could effectively engage a target at just over 900 meters. The weapon was about the most useful one Deckard had ever handled, and he took great care as he set it against a nearby tree.

Rick now put the helmet on his head and watched as the visor adjusted to the ambient light. Deckard then picked up the rifle, put it to his shoulder and assumed a sitting shooting position. As soon as the rifle was up and at the ready, a cross hair appeared in the center of the visor. All-in-all, this sentry's armor and weapons were first rate. The guard was now dressed in the JCPD wetsuit Deckard had been wearing, was handcuffed and left sitting beneath a large pine tree. Rick slung the XM8 over his shoulder and looked back at Beast Boy, seemingly satisfied that their plan had worked. Suddenly, the acoustic sensors within the helmet alerted Deckard to potential threats from behind. He spun around and aimed his rifle in their direction, only to see the other four Titans come out of hiding. Rick lowered his weapon and returned it to his shoulder, all the while giving BB a glare through the tinted visor.

"Hey, I smelled them coming," he said coyly as he closed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders. Rick simply shook his head and walked forward to approach the others. As usual, Robin was the first to speak.

"Looks like you managed to blend in. Where's the guard?" He asked.

"Secured," said Deckard, his voice digitized by the helmets voice masking filter. Robin looked at him and skewed, his one eyebrow raised slightly higher than the other. "He's not dead, I just knocked him unconscious." He pointed to the guard, slumped up against the pine tree. Robin turned back to face him.

"So, what's the plan?"

"I was just about to ask the same question," came a voice from above. Suddenly, a black blur appeared behind the Titans, almost sinking into the ground. Slowly, the figure rose, revealing a pointed set of ears and a pair of narrowing eyes. As he stood fully erect, another figure, this one female, flipped into view behind Batman. Huntress was no Batgirl, for sure, but her presence was just as foreboding. The Titans, initially startled by the intrusion, lowered their guard. Robin simply stared at the two adults, neither of them full-time members of the Justice League, like the Titans, but here to help nonetheless.

"It's rather simple," said Deckard, acting like the appearance of Batman and Huntress changed nothing. "We split into teams. Team one will sabotage the helicopters at the helipad by the entrance and then gain entry to the facility. We take out the security center, simultaneously disabling the air defenses and security measures. From there, we free the Justice League. The second team will be providing air cover, making sure that any reinforcements don't get in." The group of seven heroes stood silent for a moment, each waiting for the other to speak. An uncomfortable silence ensued, and Rick decided to end it. "Unless anyone has any other ideas," he said.

"I see one flaw in your plan," replied Batman as he approached Deckard.

"What is that?" Asked Rick earnestly.

"You," replied Batman. Before Rick could react, he took a hard punch to the side of the abdomen that forced him to double over. He collapsed the floor, but not before the Dark Knight's right boot made contact with his right shoulder, forcing him to the dirt. Deckard was unsure why he was taking a pounding but realized that only reason he was not injured more is because of the armor. As Batman prepared to hit him again, he was pulled back in a claw of dark energy. Deckard looked up to see Raven, levitating and eyes aglow, pulling the Dark Knight away from him. Starfire and Cyborg were keeping Huntress from trying anything herself, and Robin walked over to face his former partner while Beast Boy approached Deckard.

"Dude, you OK?" Asked Beast Boy, helping Rick to his feet. Deckard seemed to ignore the question as he stared at Batman through the dark visor of the helmet.

"What the hell is your problem?" He asked angrily as he started dusting himself off.

"He didn't tell you, did he?" Asked Batman as he turned to face Robin, the look on his face one of surprise.

"Tell me what?" Asked Robin, his eyes squinting. Raven still had him in the claw of her dark energy grip and was not about to let him go.

"He's the reason why they're all locked up. He's the one who consolidated the information on the League, the one who put all the finishing touches on everyone's dossier. He's the reason why we're here," said Batman, his face turning back to face Deckard, his teeth almost gritting with the last statement. Robin looked at his former partner before he turned to face Deckard. With a sincere look in his eye, Robin asked him.

"Is this true, Deckard?" There was a moment of hesitation before Deckard realized that he had to answer the question, no matter how much he hated having to admit the dire truth.

"Yes," he said, hanging his head in shame. He felt Beast Boy let go of his arm and step away from him. When he looked back up, he saw that Garfield had stepped back towards Robin and Batman, now free of the dark energy claw that Raven held him captive in. Star and Cyborg had stepped down their threat posture from Huntress and they all gathered behind the Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder, all of them transfixed on the false sentry in front of them. "It's true, I was told I needed to put together all the information that was being gathered on the League and compile it in documents that would be given to the field agents. I didn't know the full scope of what was going on until I was briefed about SOLAR, but even then, I had no way of knowing that Taylor – I mean Bose – would go this far. That's why I'm helping you now," he said, his voice slightly masked by the helmet. The seven heroes stood silent for a long time before someone spoke.

"And that's good enough for me," said Robin.

"And what's good enough for Robin is good enough for us. You've brought us this far Dee, we'd appreciate it you see it through," said Cyborg. The fact that the five teens were steadfast in their trust for Rick only seemed to solidify his position. The Dark Knight and Huntress did not add to the fanfare, however, and proceeded to walk past the Titans and Deckard. As Batman glided past, silent as a ninja, he muttered something under his breath at Rick.

"You're not fooling me," he said quietly. Rick could hear it because of the amplified auditory pick-ups in the helmet, but he opted to let it go. In a fight, even with his new armor, it was clear who could be the victor. He turned back to face the Titans, all of them eager to take up their charge against those who had imprisoned their mentors and friends. Deckard walked over to the tree he had leaned his rifle against and picked it up, slinging it over his right shoulder.

"Let's go," he said, and with that, they followed the two adult heroes through the forest.

...

"Sensors report nothing unusual, sir. Radar has been clear for almost eighteen hours and observers haven't seen or heard anything," stated one of the technicians. He and another individual were monitoring an array of seven LCD screens that shifted their viewpoints every ten seconds. The majority was set along the perimeter fence, but the overabundance of foliage made visibility poor even on a good day. The first three fence lines were equipped with cameras while the two innermost had guard towers. Once inside the main surface facility, however, there were no cameras. Bose had made it clear that anyone attempting to escape the facility would first have to get through the defensive measures underground and then try to get upstairs. By that time, positive identification would have been made and the prisoner either apprehended or killed.

"Keep checking. Report to me with anything unusual," replied Bose from the back of the security center. While Bose had considered the possibility of someone trying to break into the facility, he believed that with the umbrella of surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft guns and perimeter defenses, it would be suicide. Even if an aerial insertion was successful, there was no way to not be identified before they entered the main building. This was his reasoning for not placing security cameras within the main facility. He believed there was no way in hell anyone would get in or out of this fortified prison.

"Understood, sir," the tech acknowledged.

If only Bose had considered that someone was willing to prove him wrong.


	26. Chapter 26

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 26 – BREACHED

1451hrs MST, Tuesday, 24 June  
Western Montana – SOLAR Interment Facility

The helipad was at the south end of the complex, though it was close to a three mile trek from where the group initially met up. They had followed the fence until it stopped traveling south and made its way east. About a mile from that corner was the helipad. Sitting on the tarmac were two AH-1W Super Cobra gun ships, each equipped with two 7.62 mm multi-barrel machine guns, thirty eight 70 mm Hydra rockets in two pods, two 20 mm cannons and two wing-mounted Stinger air-to-air missiles. The choppers were painted black with the emblem of SOLAR emblazoned on the tail. Though not as advanced an aircraft as the AH-64 Apache, these aircraft were formidable and not something to be trifled with.

Hiding in the bushes, the group of Titans, Batman and Huntress watched as Deckard approached the small airfield, his rifle at low carry. The two guards on the helipad did not seem to notice his approach until he got within a few hundred meters of the edge of the pad. Cyborg was able to listen in on the radio traffic through an antenna on his arm.

"_Viper six four, you are not due to report back until sixteen hundred hours. Acknowledge, over_." The group strained to see as Deckard stopped and looked dead on towards the area where the two guards were standing. One of them began to walk towards Deckard while the other remained on the tarmac. "_Viper six four, this is Viper two one, acknowledge, over_?" The voice came through again. Rick stood in the middle of the open path, seemingly frozen, until he tapped the side of his helmet with his left hand three times. The approaching sentry stopped his walk and radioed back. "_Roger six four, I copy. Head on in and we'll get you a new transmitter_." Deckard now continued to walk towards the pad, the trust of the guards gained.

"Now what?" Asked Helena, her eyes shifting to Batman.

"We follow," he replied as he rose and began to follow down an adjacent path towards the helipad.

"Wait, Raven can teleport us," said Robin. The look on the faces of Huntress and Batman was one of both dissatisfaction and bewilderment.

"No thanks," said Batman and he began moving towards the airfield. Huntress, obviously not keen on walking the mile or so distance, followed tentatively. She kept some distance between herself and the Dark Knight as she pushed branches out of the way. Robin watched as they vanished into the brush.

"Raven, let's go," said Robin. Raven opened her cloak, revealing a black void where her body would normally be. One by one each Titan stepped into the blackness until they had all entered, leaving Raven to herself. Then she vanished into thin air, leaving no evidence of their presence.

...

Deckard pulled the second sentry's body behind the building which housed the fuel for the helicopters. The fact that he did not need to fire a shot to subdue them was good; the fact he had to use the combat knife on his left thigh was not so good. They bled slowly, as Rick was careful to not stab and twist, but was able to ensure that they expired quickly. Now he had to deal with the pilots, the four of whom were inside the main building at the helipad. He checked his belt to see what he had apart from ammunition that he might be able to use. The search yielded two flash bang grenades, two fragmentation grenades and two Kolokol-1 incapacitating agent canisters.

Deckard pulled one of the Kolokol-1 canisters and examined it. The effects of the chemical would be felt within one to three seconds after exposure and would render its victims unconscious for two to six hours. _This sounds like it'll do the trick_ he thought. He placed the canister back in his belt and walked out from the back of the fuel depot. As he approached the main building, he noticed there was no security panel for the door; meaning all he'd have to do is toss the canister. Then he realized the building was probably split into various rooms and the pilots could be split among any one of them. As much as he hated the idea, he'd have to enter the building to ascertain their whereabouts. He slung his rifle back over his shoulder and put his hand on the door. _Well, here it goes_.

...

Raven materialized between the two helicopters, disgorging her fellow Titans onto the concrete tarmac as she opened her cloak. When they had all collected themselves, they looked around to see if Batman or Huntress had beaten them up here.

"I don't see them anywhere," said Beast Boy, looking around trying to find a scent.

"I see something," said Starfire, which got the attention of the other four. They looked as a black suited figure suddenly darted into the door of the main building, the heavy metal door slamming shut behind him.

"Why does that not seem like a good idea?" Asked Cyborg out loud.

"Because it wasn't," came a voice from behind them. There stood Batman, Huntress to his left. Even though the Titans had beaten them to the target, the Dark Knight had got the drop on them again. "We should get back, reinforcements are liable to come out any moment now," he said. The Titans simply stood their ground, unwilling to accept that Deckard would be a turncoat. Huntress moved away from the group, not wanting to get involved in the conversation. Robin and Batman simply stared at each other, both of their faces etched in stone and transfixed on the other. Then Huntress broke the tension.

"I don't think we have to worry about him turning on us, Bats," she said. Interested to see what she found, Batman turned away from the teens and walked over to where Huntress was kneeling. Before her lay the bodies of two sentries, dressed like Deckard. They had each been stabbed underneath the right arm, the area around the wound soaked in blood. The corpses were hidden well enough that no one could see them unless they walked directly behind the fuel depot, which is exactly what the remaining perimeter sentry had opted to do.

"Freeze!" The command came from behind them and the distinctive sound of a rifle bolt charging a round was heard immediately thereafter. Huntress rose slowly as Batman began to turn towards the guard. "I said freeze! Don't turn around! On your stomachs, arms spread! Do it now!" Batman already had the bat-a-rang in his hand, but figured that with the amount of people around him, someone could risk being shot. Slowly he began to kneel next to Huntress, and the Titans did the same. They heard footsteps from behind as a second guard approached. "Give me a hand with them, would you?" Asked the sentry to his companion. There was no reply, only the sound of a muffled scream and then a thud as the guard's helmet hit the concrete surface of the tarmac. The heroes turned to see the other sentry stowing his combat knife into its sheath, looking at them through the helmeted gaze.

"Looks like someone's taking an interest in my handiwork," came the digitized voice of Deckard from the helmet.

"Do you take pride in this?" Asked Huntress, the look on her face somewhat disgusted. The fact that Deckard had to kill the sentries was not something he wanted to do, but he remembered all his fellow agents who had been murdered, how their lives were wasted. That train of thought seemed to blot out any remorse he had for killing the guards.

"Of course not. You think I would arbitrarily kill for no reason? Anyway, all the pilots are out of commission," replied Rick from behind the helmet. The Titans seemed to understand what he meant, but the adult duo obviously did not.

"You killed them too?" Asked Batman coldly, his eyes narrowing as he focused on Deckard. Rather than answer, Rick walked up to the corpse in front of him and pulled one of the Kolokol-1 canisters from his belt and tossed it to Batman. The Dark Knight caught it, examined it, and then placed it on his utility belt, seemingly satisfied. Rick, in the mean time, dragged the corpse behind the fuel depot and placed it with the others, removing the second Kolokol-1 canister after he set the body down.

"So now what? All the guards are neutralized, what do we do about these choppers?" Asked Cyborg inquisitively. Deckard looked on, not quite sure how to answer.

"We'll have to sabotage them using explosives," he replied. "We'll have to put them on a timer though, if we blow them now we'll let everyone know we're here."

"How do we get in to the facility?" Asked Robin.

"There's a motor pool on the other side of the building. I'll take a vehicle in with three others," replied Deckard.

"You're splitting us up?" Asked Beast Boy emphatically.

"It's the most logical course of action, Garfield. Four of us will enter the facility and rescue the League while the other four remain to provide air cover and watch this facility," said Deckard. "Someone has to monitor the explosives to take out these choppers, as well as make sure no one else discovers why everyone's missing."

"Who's going in?" Asked Robin.

"Batman, Huntress, myself, and Raven," said Deckard. The faces of everyone seemed to grimace.


	27. Chapter 27

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 27 – INFERNO

1551hrs MST, Tuesday, 24 June  
Western Montana – SOLAR Internment Facility

The drive up to the facility was uneventful. The group did not encounter any guards until they reached the fourth sally port. Deckard flashed the stolen sentry's ID badge and he was waived through without question. Batman, Huntress and Raven sat huddled in the back of the van, all focused on Deckard as he approached each sally port. When the vehicle finally cleared the last of the double-fenced gates, Deckard pulled the van up to a small parking lot and killed the ignition. He began looking over the equipment on his belt and made sure that his rifle and sidearm were loaded and charged.

"So now what?" Asked Helena from the rear of the van.

"I go in, see how many guards and cameras are inside. Then I'll come back and get you," replied Deckard as he opened the door to step out of the van.

"You want us to stay here?" Helena asked rhetorically.

"That's not going to happen," said Batman, chiming in harshly.

"Fine. Do what you want," said Deckard and he slammed the door to the van. He began walking towards the entrance of the main building, noting that there were no cameras present on the exterior and no guards by the door. He stopped at a key card panel adjacent to the door and swiped the stolen ID through the scanner. The indicator LED shifted from red to green and a buzzing sound indicated he should open the door. He pulled the door open and entered the main lobby, a barren room with two large metal doors on either side. There was one guard, unarmed, standing by the door to the right. The sentry seemed to be unaware, or uncaring, about Deckard's presence in the lobby. Without a word, Deckard walked over to a door labeled as the entrance to the lavatory. He emerged a few minutes later and headed back outside, making his way towards the van. He approached the rear of the vehicle and opened the double doors and was greeted by only the stone cold face of Raven.

"I'm guessing they went to find another way in?" Asked Deckard as he looked around to see where they other two might have gone.

"How could you tell?" Replied Raven with a shot of sarcasm.

"C'mon," he said and he reached for Ravens' hand to help her down out of the van. Once on the ground, they shut the doors to the van and headed towards the main entrance again. Raven was levitating directly behind Deckard, waiting for him to enter the facility. He swiped the card entry again and signaled to Raven to make herself scarce. She sank into the floor and disappeared from view, leaving Rick alone to enter the facility. This time, the unarmed guard took notice.

"Weren't you just here?" He asked inquisitively.

"No, that was my partner. Lavatory at the perimeter is busted again," said Deckard in response. The helmet's voice filter worked aptly at disguising his voice.

"Again eh? Seems like you guys always have that problem," said the guard in return. Deckard closed the distance between them.

"Must be nice, inside air conditioning all day, not having to do perimeter checks, easy access to the lavatory. You got it made," said Deckard. Now there was only about a foot of distance separating the guard from him.

"Yeah, but it gets pretty boring after a while," the guard replied. Deckard stared at the man through the tinted visor. He casually placed his right hand on the stock of the rifle and his left on the sling, making it appear like he was going to adjust it.

"Well, let me liven it up for you," as he quickly brought the rifle butt to bear into the man's abdomen, doubling him over. A second blow to the back of the head dropped him to the floor, rendering him unconscious. Deckard turned to see Raven levitating towards him, her hood up, concealing her face from view but her eyes still fully visible.

"Nice work," said a voice from above. Batman landed behind Raven and Deckard, making almost no audible noise as he did so. Huntress, though less graceful, was just as stealthy as she landed to the right and behind of the caped crusader.

"Where were you?" Asked Deckard.

"I thought there might be a need to go in more covertly," replied Batman.

"You mean, saving your own ass while Rae and I took the fall in the event things went to hell in a hand basket. Good plan," said Deckard in response, the last portion tinged with just a hint of sarcasm. Batman said nothing in return.

"You want me to take care of the door?" Asked Raven as she pointed to the large steel door that looked like it belonged in a bank vault rather than in the lobby of an interment facility.

"No need to strain yourself, dear girl. That's why we have him," said Deckard through the digitized helmet. He picked up the limp guards body and propped him upright, holding him up by the collar of his jacket. With his other hand he maneuvered the mans head to directly in front of the retinal scanner and then asked "Would one of you mind opening his eyes?" Huntress looked over at Batman before she strolled over to where Deckard and the unconscious guard were waiting. With her index finger and thumb she opened the mans' eye long enough for the reader to scan it. The sound of the magnetic lock releasing caught the attention of everyone and as the large, lead-lined door began to swing open they looked for any other guards who might have been on the other side. There were none.

The four individuals entered the hallway beyond the door, dragging the limp body of the guard as they went. After storing him in a utility closet on one side of the otherwise sparse hallway, they converged in front of the double elevator doors. "Raven, call the others, see what progress they've made," commanded Deckard. Raven complied without question by pulling out her communicator.

"Robin, can you hear me?" She asked into the device.

"_Go ahead Raven, I'm here_," was the response.

"How are things going out there?" Asked Raven in an even voice.

"_OK so far. We put charges on both the choppers at the helipad and tied up all the pilots. Beast Boy and I are making our way back to the T-Ship now; Cyborg and Starfire are going to wait at the helipad to blow the charges. How are you guys doing?_" Replied Robin with his own question.

"Good. We're about to enter the facility, I'll call you when we reach our objective," replied Raven, looking over at Deckard.

"_All right. See you back up here in a bit. Robin out._" The transmission cut out after that and Raven placed the communicator back on her belt. There was an eerie silence before the elevator door opened. Deckard stepped into the car and the others followed, though there was some hesitation. The doors closed and the car began its descent into what they all could only guess would be the main portion of the interment facility; it was like they were descending into Dante's Inferno.

"Deckard, can you pull up a schematic on your HUD?" Asked Batman as the hum of the elevators descent permeated the car.

"Already done. We're traveling almost two hundred feet below the surface. Looks like there are two main facilities. We'll want the one to the left, that's where our friends are," said Deckard.

"What's in the other one?" Asked Huntress.

"That one's for all the people who need to be there," replied Deckard.

"What? What do you mean?" Asked Huntress.

"Before the League was captured, every villain in Arkham and other like prisons was transferred out to a more specialized facility. This has got be the place," said Batman to the air in the car more so than anyone directly.

"Are we going to leave them here?" Asked Huntress, the tone of her voice suggesting she would be fine with doing just that.

"No," replied Batman. "We're getting them out, but after we get the League."

"Shit," said Deckard.

"What is it?" Asked Raven. All eyes turned to the helmeted figure as the small glints of light flashed across the visor.

"I can't access the detention areas with this keycard. I just checked, and the doors leading to the holding cells are just as thick as the ones upstairs," Deckard said, the tone of his voice dropping in pitch as he seemed to realize how big of an error he just made.

"Where's the control center for the detention areas?" Asked Batman.

"Walk out of the elevator and it's straight ahead, but the cell block is to the left, and we'll need to coordinate once we get the League to open up the other door," said Deckard thinking aloud.

"Can you access the control center with that keycard?" Asked Batman.

"Yeah," replied Deckard. "I can get down to the control center and give you access to the cell blocks. I can probably find a way to make this place disappear once we get everyone out, too. You three head down to the cell block and I'll let you in via remote access. I can try to have the guards deploy to a riot in the other block so that it buys you some time."

"Rick, let me come with you," said Raven, her voice almost sounded pleading.

"No Rae, Batman and Huntress will need your help getting everyone with the League out of here. You can teleport, which means while they're freeing them you can get them to the surface or transport them where they need to be. I'll be fine," replied Rick and he unslung the rifle from his shoulder. Raven was about to argue the point when the elevator car began to slow its descent. "Uh oh," said Deckard, "two guards, ready to receive us at the door."

"What now?" Asked Helena.

"Put your hands behind your backs and keep your heads down. Follow my lead," said Deckard. Before anyone could retort, the elevator car stopped and the sounds of the door motors forced everyone to follow Deckards' instructions. As the double doors parted, two large sentries dressed in similar garb to Deckard's, approached with two large batons in their hands. One of them stopped when he noticed Deckards' XM8 at the ready.

"You know the rules, no firearms in the detention area!" He grunted from behind the helmet.

"Hey, what did you want me to do? We called you guys four times to come get 'em. I got my own job to do topside. Should be happy I brought them here in the first place," said Deckard in response. It seemed to annoy the guard, but he opted not to reply to the rebuttal. They moved in closer, ready to maneuver Raven, Huntress and Batman out of the elevator. "Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention something," said Deckard. The guard seemed even more annoyed now.

"What?"

"They're not restrained," said Deckard and with that he brought the butt of the rifle to bear against the closest guards helmet. Batman struck the other sentry with a well placed punch to the left side of the torso and then brought his elbow to bear on the mans back while simultaneously kneeing him in the chest. The force of the blows knocked the wind out of the guard and dropped him to the floor, where he was promptly kicked by Huntress in a very sensitive area. Curling in the fetal position, he breathed a sigh of pain before passing out. The other guard, the one Deckard had used a melee attack on, lay in a heap on the other side of the elevator. With both guards dispatched, the foursome ran out into the dimly lit hallway and looked around. No guards, and the hallway they were in went in both directions for quite a distance with another perpendicular to it, going straight on from the elevator door.

"You know what to do," said Batman as he looked over at Deckard.

"You still think I'm going to stab you in the back? You got another thing coming," said Deckard and with that he began a hard sprint down the hallway leading away from the elevator. Batman watched him for a brief moment before heading off in the direction of the cell block where his fellow leaguers were being held. Huntress was hot on his heals. Raven, torn between wanting to help Rick and knowing she was needed elsewhere, watched as Rick disappeared from sight before she levitated at the intersection of the hallways and proceeded to catch up with Huntress and the Dark Knight.

She knew that he would be all right without her.

...

Deckard had opted to walk the last few hundred feet to the control center. He did not want anyone alerted to his presence by the sound of his heavy breathing. That and the heavy exhalation was causing his visor to fog up slightly, not a good thing if he suddenly had to start shooting. The door to the control center came into view and Deckard approached cautiously. Strangely, there were no guards at the entrance, just a simple keycard scanner like every other one he had seen at this facility. He adjusted the rifle on his shoulder and stepped in front of the keycard reader. He pulled the ID out and ran it through. Once again, the red LED turned green and the hiss of a pneumatic motor could be heard as the door slid open.

Inside were three technicians, all of whom were watching a set of seven LCD screens. The screens varied their points of view every ten seconds or so, each one showing a different section of the facility from the outside. Deckard had to guess most of the cameras were on the fences, as the pictures being shown indicated that. The technicians were so busy watching what was going on that they barely noticed Deckard had come in. When one of them finally did notice, he was very surprised.

"H-Hey! What are you doing here?" He asked emphatically. He almost jumped out of his chair.

"Viper six four reporting. Wanted to inform you that the comm by the helipad is out. We tried sending all manner of frequencies to let you know but couldn't reach you. Figured I'd come down here and let you know," said Deckard as cool as he possibly could. The technicians seemed to be affixed to staring into the black tinted visor of the helmet and failed to notice Deckard had removed one of the Kolokol-1 canisters from his belt and held it behind his back.

"Oh, well, that explains why we couldn't talk to anybody out there for the last twenty minutes," replied the one technician. The other looked at him somewhat agitated.

"Well, excuse me for thinking that something might actually be happening in this barren wasteland of an assignment," retorted the other tech with a sarcastic lash. Deckard pulled the pin on the canister and then used his chin to hit a switch inside the helmet. A yellow display marked "SEALING" appeared on the visor and then flashed green indicating the helmet had created a seal preventing Deckard from succumbing to the knock out gas.

"Well, that's all I have. Anything else you need from me?" Asked Deckard. He tightened his grip on the canister and prepared to let it fly.

"Nope, that should do it. Thanks for informing us," replied the one tech who was initially startled by Deckard as he sat back down in his seat.

"Good," said Deckard in response. He released the lever on the canister which made a noise that had all the technicians turning to face him. Deckard tossed the canister in between the triad and watched as it dispelled the white gas before it even hit the ground. The technicians, dumbfounded by what just happened, tried to shield their faces from the white cloud as it began to spread throughout the control center. Three seconds later, their bodies lay slumped up against their control consoles, like rag dolls strewn about on a toddler's floor. Deckard approached each technician individually, placing a hand on their shoulder to verify they were indeed unconscious. Satisfied the technicians would no longer be bothering him, he began to check the security system for the facility. After a few minutes of searching, he found what he was looking for; the controls for the cell block doors and the main terminal for the air defense systems. He hoped that Batman, Huntress and Raven were in position and ready to begin the operation. He began to key up another console, this one with an outgoing line over a secure channel. Deckard wanted to make sure that this facility did not survive once the Justice League had been released.

...

Another guard flew up against the wall adjacent to the main door to Cell Block Sol. He hit with a force that echoed down the hallway before falling to a heap on the polished linoleum floor. He was the twentieth guard that Batman had voluntarily introduced to Newton's First Law of Motion and the Dark Knight was sure more would be on the way. Raven and Huntress had taken out their fair share of guards as well. They seemed to come in groups of four or five, the largest so far being seven, at various intervals. Whether they were coming from various parts of the facility or simply stumbling across the three of them was inconsequential; they had to be dealt with or risk blowing the whole operation. It was surprising that the alarm had not yet been tripped.

Their focus changed when they heard the characteristic sound of the metallic door unlocking. They watched as the large metal door opened, slowly, revealing a long walkway that seemed to stretch onwards forever. Along the sides of the walkway were glass paned rooms, each containing a member of the Justice League. The conditions in which they were being held were abhorrent. Superman was bound to a table with Kryptonite-coated restraints supplemented by solid rods of the element and a fine dust coating the walls. He looked as sickly as Batman had ever seen him. Wonder Woman was without her cuffs with two large caliber turrets pointed directly at her. The turrets seemed to be tied to a motion sensor, so any movement would cause them to start firing. Flash was restrained in a gelatinous substance that restricted movement, preventing him from vibrating himself out of his cell. Green Lantern sat powerless without his ring, as did Hawkgirl without her mace. J'onn was in his native Martian form rather his humanoid one, indicating he was under a great deal of stress. Batman was temporarily shocked by the conditions, but he did not show it. He could not let his emotions cloud his judgment and risk the operation.

"Start on the controls," he said and with that ran over to Superman's cell. Huntress began working the ones to the left while Raven ran down a distance and began deactivating the security glass, first coming to Black Canary's. She was wearing a device similar to a shock collar but much larger and more sophisticated. Without hesitation, Raven lifted her hand and the collar became enveloped in black before shattering, freeing the song bird of her vocal barrier.

"Thanks little bird," she said, rubbing her throat.

"Don't mention it," replied Raven as she turned to go to the next cell. Batman, in the meantime, was successful at retrieving Superman, but he was still delirious from the Kryptonite contamination. He dragged the Man of Steel out into the open portion of the hallway just in time to see Diana emerge from her cell with Huntresses help.

"You all right?" He asked. She looked over at him.

"I'll be better once I get my hands on the bastard who did this to us," she replied, adjusting her cuff. Then she noticed Clark, slumped over Batman's shoulder. "Is he OK?"

"I need to get him away from the Kryptonite," he said as he began to move him farther down the hall.

"No need, I'll take care of it," replied Diana and with that she moved over to Superman's former cell and began bending, breaking and bashing the Kryptonite rods, restraints and started pummeling the walls. Batman looked on as Raven and Huntress freed more of the League, with those who were able, like Green Arrow and Black Canary, began to free more of their brothers and sisters. So far, so good.

...

In the control center, Deckard had already dispatched the majority of the guard staff to the other cell block with reports of a riot. To keep the guards occupied, he had opted to release _all_ the villains from their cells in order to add to the realism. He continually had to suppress the alarm so that the rest of the facility was not alerted to what was going on inside the cell blocks, but the frequency with which it was going off was increasing by the minute. As he was watching the JL being freed from their cells one by one, one of the screens on the panel came to life. A man in a suit appeared and immediately recognized Deckard.

"Rick! Where have you been? Every law enforcement agency from San Diego to Seattle is looking for you. And what is up with that stuff you sent to me?" Asked the man.

"Never mind that, did you send it to who I told you to?" Asked Rick hastily, dividing his attention between his friend and the events in the cell blocks.

"Yeah, but-"

"Even to the national command authority?"

"Yeah, but what-"

"Good. I need you to patch me through to Mountain Home Air Force Base, now!" Exclaimed Rick into the microphone.

"What for?" Asked Josh, still dumbfounded by what was going on.

"Now!" Exclaimed Deckard, to which Josh seemed startled but began to shift off-screen in order to accommodate the request. Back at Titans Tower, when Deckard had learned the full scope of the SOLAR plot, he sent the information he had to Josh, his contact at the NSA. Josh had forwarded the information to the appropriate authorities, all the way up to the highest levels of government. He hoped that with the request he was making now he could bring the full assistance of the United States to the aide of the Justice League, just as the League had done many times over for them. Josh came back on the screen.

"Transferring you over, Rick," he said.

"Thanks buddy," replied Deckard.

"Rick, be careful," said Josh, a hint of worry in his voice.

"I will," replied Rick and with that the image of Josh switched over to a brief period of static before being replaced by the image of a woman in a flight suit with head set on.

"This is Captain Layla Daniels, US Air Force, identify yourself," she commanded.

"My name is Agent Rick Deckard with the FBI, I have some information that your commander should already be privy to."


	28. Chapter 28

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 28 – VECTORED

1659hrs MST, Tuesday, 24 June  
20,000 ft above Idaho – Paradise Military Operating Area (MOA) East

The Paradise MOA is one of the largest operating areas for military aircraft in the US, with only the airspace around Nellis AFB, Nevada considered to be better for combat exercises. The two F-15E Strike Eagles flying out of Mountain Home AFB, Idaho were part of the 391st Fighter Squadron, also known as the "Bold Tigers," one of the premier tactical fighter squadrons in the US Air Force. They were traveling at normal cruising speed on a heading that took them southeast towards their intended "targets." Those were, in actuality, a series of old, rusted out tank chassis that were routinely blown to pieces by various bombs and munitions dropped from these birds. Normally at this point in the flight, control, call sign Strike, usually did not contact aircraft unless an important matter came up. So, naturally, the pilot of the lead aircraft was surprised when he received a squawk from base.

"_Tiger Five Two, this is Strike, standby to copy new coordinates, over_," said the voice of the controller.

"Roger Strike, Tiger Five Two holding, over," replied the pilot. He looked at his HUD and centered the boresight symbol so it became even with the flight path vector indicator. The adjustment was minor and the trailing aircraft would accommodate to it.

"_Tiger Five Two, Strike, new course heading of vector zero-two-five for three five seven miles, maintain angels twenty, airspeed three hundred. Advise, you are cleared weapons hot, over_," said the voice of the controller. That last part caught the pilot, and his weapons systems officer, off guard.

"Uh, confirm?" Asked the WSO.

"Strike, Tiger Five Two, confirm last transmission, over," said the pilot into his oxygen mask. He turned to his left to see the pilot of the trail aircraft give him a hand signal acknowledging the request. Apparently he wanted to know the same information.

"_Tiger Five Two, Strike, you are cleared for weapons hot. Standby for package information, over_," replied the controller. There was no hesitation or mistake in the controller's voice. Apparently, for whatever reason, Tiger Flight was being diverted to another location to drop their ordinance.

"They're sending us to Montana," piped the WSO from the backseat, the confusion in his voice blatantly apparent. He must have brought up the coordinates on the GPS and plotted the rendezvous point. None of this was making sense to any of the officers in the two aircraft.

"Strike, Tiger Five Two, confirm heading and coordinates, over," the pilot said again.

"_Tiger Five Two, Strike, confirmed course heading of vector zero-two-five for three five seven miles, maintain angels twenty at airspeed three hundred. Black letter initials for weapons delivery is authorized, over_," the controller came back. That last part meant that whoever authorized the order was well above the pay grade of the captain flying this bird, which he comprehended rather quickly.

"Wilco Strike, Tiger Flight is inbound, proceeding to new coordinates, over," replied the pilot of the lead aircraft. He then grabbed the stick and banked the aircraft left, the trailing aircraft following soon after. The WSOs set the planes on their new heading and armed their payload of Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) and air-to-air missiles. Why on Earth they were being sent to Montana with hot weapons was something they could only speculate about.

...

Rick switched the screen he was looking at over to the security camera picture from inside Cell Block Luna. Tear gas grenades were being tossed at the villains who were in the midst of trying to thwart the guards attempts at suppressing them. Unfortunately, the sentries seemed to be winning the fight, corralling the miscreants along the far wall, furthest away from the cells. The majority had been subdued, but there were a few who were still resisting. Deckard then shifted his attention to the other screen to see the majority of the Justice League had been released, with only a few heroes left to spring from confinement. He wanted to inform the League that the Air Force was inbound with weapons to destroy the installation and there was only a limited amount of time before they had to evacuate. He reached for a button to activate the communication system inside Cell Block Sol.

Rick was suddenly hit with what felt like a molten spike attached to the end of a sledge hammer. The force of the impact made his body lurch forward, then collapsing him to his knees. The pain was immense, damn near excruciating, more than any he had ever felt in his entire life. A warm, oozing feeling began to trickle down his back and his chest. He looked up to see blood spatter and the characteristic spider-web pattern shattering the screen he was just viewing. It took Deckard a second to put the pieces together, and he could feel the warmth from his body begin to leave him. His breathing was becoming labored and the taste of blood was stuck in his mouth. Slowly, he lowered himself onto the floor, turning around as he did so, laying on his right leg. His vision started to fuzz, but he could make out the silhouette of someone standing not to far away with something in their hand, what looked like a pistol. Then, he heard the voice.

"You have no idea how much I'm going to enjoy watching you die," said Adrian Bose, a slight smirk appearing on his face. Deckard pulled off his helmet and looked the man straight in the eye, the pool of blood around him becoming larger by the minute. This was it; there was no getting out of this one.

...

Raven stopped dead in her tracks and then collapsed to her knees. Helena, having freed the last of the League, continued running until she realized Raven was no longer next to her. She ran back over to the girl, who was clutching her sides and trembling.

"Raven, what's wrong?" Asked Helena, kneeling beside the young Titan.

"It's…Rick…he's hurt, bad. I can feel his pain. He's…he's been shot," she said, looking up at Huntress. To this, Helena stood up and called over to the assembled heroes, none of whom heard her. Batman was at the center with Diana and GL to his side. Superman was beginning to come around, but still not at one hundred percent.

"We have to go take care of the others in the second cell block," said Batman to the entire group. Some of them were not keen on the idea.

"Why should we?" Asked Green Arrow.

"They deserve to be in a place like this," said Black Canary.

"They're only going to go back to the same old routine once they get out," added Captain Atom. The murmuring continued until J'onn raised an arm to silence the group.

"Be that as it may, they are still entitled to the rights of any other inmate in the system, not subjected to this animalistic substitute. Think about what you, we, have been subjected to during our time here. This is not right, for anyone," he said. His statement seemed to resonate, as it got quiet before Helena got the attention she needed.

"Batman!" She exclaimed. The Dark Knight ran over to her quickly, looking at Raven in a heap on the floor.

"What is it?"

"It's Deckard, Raven says he's been shot, sounds pretty bad," she replied. Raven stood up now, her face still twisted by the pain that had overwhelmed her shortly before. Batman looked over at her with that same stone-cold, callous expression he always had.

"We need to get the others out. Once we do, we can go help him," he replied and before either of them could fire a retort he turned and began to walk back towards the others. He was stopped by a black wall.

"No," said Raven, a tinge of anger to her voice. "I'm going to help him _now_," she said. Batman looked over his right shoulder, squinting his eyes as he did so. He knew that without Raven, evacuating everyone would take entirely too much time, and he did not want to be here any longer that he had to.

"Fine. I'll go get Deckard, you get everyone else to the surface," he said begrudgingly. There was a moment of hesitation before Raven lowered her barrier and her eye color returned to normal. Without a word, Batman ran past the other heroes and out of the cell block. The rest of the JL just looked on until he disappeared into the blackness of the hallway before returning their gaze to Huntress and Raven.

"Let's go," said Raven as she began to levitate past the gathered heroes. She led them out into the hallway towards the other cell block, wondering what was happening with Rick.

...

Robin banked the T-Ship to the right, continuing the holding pattern he had been in for the last few minutes. Two large plumes of black smoke rose from the remains of the Cobra helicopters on the pad where Batman, Huntress, Raven and Deckard had commandeered the van to enter the facility. After the explosives had been detonated, he and Garfield had picked up Starfire and Cyborg so as to have as full a crew as possible. Why Deckard had told them to do this task was beyond him, when they could be doing something useful inside the facility.

"Robin, I've got contact left at five miles, one hundred thrity knots, tree top level," said Cyborg. Robin looked over at his scope to see a blip moving towards them.

"Roger, I've got radar contact. Hang on," said Robin as he banked the T-Ship left and dropped the altitude. The speed at which the T-Ship was moving, however, caused it to pass the radar contact in the midst of the turn. With no visual of what was on the radar, the Titans were blind as to what could possibly be sending back a signature. They were made privy to it in short order, when a warning alarm began to sound in the cockpit compartments.

"What is it?" Asked Robin.

"We're being painted!" Replied Cyborg emphatically. Robin looked over at the control board to see a 'MASTER CAUTION' flashing yellow with another, bright red one labeled 'MISSILE' also flashing on an off. Before he could determine what was happening, Cyborg came over the intercom. "Robin, they fired! Evasive maneuvers!" Robin applied full throttle and pulled back on the yoke, forcing the nose of the T-Ship up in a sharp climb. The warning alarms now began to blare incessantly as Robin banked ninety degrees left and dropped the nose. Cyborg and Starfire were looking around frantically while Beast Boy went into freak-out mode.

"What is it?" Asked Robin.

"A single missile, gainin' on us!" Replied Cyborg.

"I do not see it!" Added Starfire.

"Got it! Break left, hard, now Robin!" Yelled Cyborg into the intercom. Robin reduced power and pulled the yoke back as far as he could before putting all power to the engines. The gee forces pushed him and the others to the back of their seats, the inertia of the maneuver almost too much for them to take. The edge of their vision began to go gray, the blood pooling in their legs from the stress of the maneuver.

"Where is it?" Asked Robin as he now banked right, seeing the missile for the first time as the contrail snaked upwards from the tree line.

"I'm trying to break the lock!" Yelled Cyborg as he frantically hit buttons while Robin continued to serpentine through the mountain pass. He figured he had to let Raven know what was going on, hopefully she or someone else could help.

"Raven, its Robin! We've been attacked by the air support units out here, we need some help. Get up here as soon as you can!" He exclaimed into the microphone. "Cyborg, deploy countermeasures!"

"Got it!" Yelled Cyborg as he hit the switch to deploy the flares. Robin banked the T-Ship hard right as multiple sets of flares popped off the aircraft, but the missile simply ignored them, intent upon its real target. "No good Robin! It's still on us," replied Cyborg.

"Where is it?" Robin asked emphatically, now brining the aircraft hard left to get a better angle. He caught a brief glimpse as the missile tried to follow the heat trail of the T-Ship before breaking right and pulling up on the stick. Then Cyborg came across again.

"Second missile in the air, three miles and closing! Change your vector Robin, now! Pull up!" Robin leveled off and applied full power to the engines and yanked back on the yoke, forcing the T-Ship into a power climb. The pair of missiles streaked upwards to follow.

"Dudes! We're toast!" Screamed Beast Boy.

"Missiles closing!" Said Cyborg, ignoring Garfields realization, "break right!" Robin continued the climb for another three seconds before cutting power and pulling the nose right, pitching him against the left side of the cockpit. The missile to the left overshot the T-Ship, but the one to the right clipped the right engine pod, spinning about wildly before exploding a thousand feet above the aircraft. Now the warning alarms in the cockpit went absolutely crazy and the impact forced the T-Ship to lose altitude.

"Flight controls are shot!" Screamed Robin into the microphone as he turned to see the missile that overshot begin to come back towards them.

"Break left!" Screamed Cyborg, but it was too late. The missile slammed into the left engine pod, exploding in a fireball that ripped it loose from the main wing spar. The T-Ship now plummeted uncontrollably toward the ground below, the warning alarms continuing to sound.

"Starfire, get out there and slow us down!" Yelled Robin as he futilely fought with the control yoke. Starfire smashed through the cockpit of her compartment and out into the open air, looking down as she watched the T-Ship fall towards Earth. Eyes ablaze with green, she shot downwards like a hawk in a dive. She passed the ship on its free fall and got far enough ahead where she could catch it, or at least slow its rate of descent. Bracing for the impact, Starfire closed her eyes and held out her hands. The force with which the ship hit her was more than she thought she could bare, and she conjured all her alien strength to slow the descent of the flaming hulk. Once a safe distance from the ground, she set the remains of the T-Ship down gently in a clearing. Robin and Cyborg exited the destroyed hulk while BB remained curled in the fetal position in his cockpit, still waiting for the impact to occur. Upon realizing that he was safe, he uncurled himself and stepped out of his cockpit compartment.

"Oh, man," said Cyborg placing both hands on his head. Normally he would have been upset over having the T-Ship in such disarray, but he was happier to be functioning properly at this point. As he continued to stare at the twisted metal hulk, his auditory sensors picked up a low frequency sound approaching from the west. He looked up and used the zoom capabilities of his ocular implant to look off towards the direction of the sound. The outline of several, heavily armed helicopters were clearly discernable. "Oh…man," he said again. The others looked over in his direction.

"What's coming?" Asked Beast Boy. Before Cyborg could answer, the roar of a jet engine tore through the clearing. The black outline was unmistakable; a Harrier jump jet, capable of vertical take-off and landing. There were no visible markings on the aircraft as it turned left and began to circle their position. Cyborg armed his sonic cannon, which was perhaps the only anti-aircraft weapon now at the Titans disposal.

"Get ready," said Robin, narrowing his eyes at the approach of the oncoming aircraft. All the young heroes were so focused on the Harrier that they failed to notice the approach of several more Cobra and Huey helicopters from behind them. The Cobras hovered over the clearing, just past the tree line while the Hueys landed and disgorged a contingent of armed combatants. By the time BB turned to see what was making all the noise, they had opened fire. Multiple 5.56mm rounds pinged off Cyborgs' shoulder armor, while Starfire ducked instinctively behind the hulk of the T-Ship. Robin flipped his way back to Starfire's position. Garfield morphed into a snake and slithered back to his cockpit compartment, hiding. Cyborg joined the others, his sonic cannon still armed. The other three Cobra helicopters now entered the clearing, bringing the total number of aircraft to seven choppers and one Harrier jet. There were about twelve men on the ground, working their way up to the crash site.

"Any ideas?" Asked Cyborg, assessing the situation with some forlornness. Robin looked over at the hovering machines; their weapons trained on the Titans positions. The Harrier was circling, providing air cover for the helicopters.

"We go down fighting," said Robin. The remaining Titans nodded their heads in agreement. If this was to be their last stand, then so be it.


	29. Chapter 29

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 29 – ENDGAME

1739hrs MST, Tuesday, 24 June  
20,000 ft above Montana – 20 Miles from SOLAR Facility Luna Sol

"Talk to me," asked the pilot in Tiger Five Two.

"Multiple contacts, thirty left at twenty miles, four hundred knots closure," stated the WSO.

"Tiger Five Four, you copy?" Asked the pilot.

"Roger Five Two, I copy," replied the other pilot.

"Affirmative Five Four. Strike, this is Tiger Five Two, multiple bogeys in the weeds at vector zero three zero at twenty miles, four hundred knots closure," said the pilot into his oxygen mask.

"_Tiger Five Two, take angels fifteen, right one zero_," replied the controller. Both aircraft set course on the new heading.

"Five Four, I count six bogeys, confirm, over," said the WSO from the lead aircraft.

"Affirmative Five Two, I count six as well," replied the WSO from the trailer.

"Five Four, I'm going to break left and try get a visual ID, maintain present course until instructed, over," said the pilot of Tiger Five Two.

"Wilco, Five Two," replied the pilot of the second aircraft. Tiger Five Two broke formation and banked left, moving off from his wingmans position. As Five Two leveled off, the WSO checked his radar again, still tracking the contact. Five of the six of them seemed to be encircling an area while the final bogey was orbiting around them. From what he could discern, he had to guess that the majority were helicopters with a single aircraft providing cover.

"Majority of them look like rotors," said the WSO. The pilot hit the master arm switch on the control panel, arming all of the munitions strapped to the aircraft.

"Tiger Five Two, Five Four, fast mover bogey at vector zero four zero, fifteen miles, doing three hundred knots," came the voice of the WSO from Tiger Five Four. The radar contact was moving entirely too fast to be a helicopter, so the crew presumed it was a "fast mover," or jet of some kind.

"Roger, Five Four, we have the bogey," replied Five Two. The pilot turned his aircraft so it directly faced the oncoming threat.

"On your nose fifteen miles, airspeed is four hundred knots, he's at angels eleven. On the nose thirteen miles, on the nose thirteen miles, speed is increasing," replied Tiger Five Four. The bogey, the fast mover, appeared to be moving away from the others and towards Tiger Five Twos position. Five Four turned so as to rejoin his wingman in the event things got hairy.

"Five Four, Five Two, I'm taking lead. Let's identify him," said the pilot of Five Two, continuing to have his aircraft pointed directly at the oncoming threat.

"Roger Five Two, you have the lead. I'm on your left side, low," replied the other pilot. Both aircraft now adjusted their angle of attack as they approached the target. Suddenly, the radar blip split in two, both heading directly for the pair of F-15Es heading towards the five bogeys in a circle.

"Five Two, I count two, not one, two bogeys, repeat two bogeys," stated the WSO.

"Roger, Five Four, I count two bogeys," replied the other WSO. As if to confirm their presence, the cockpit alarms in Tiger Five two suddenly started beeping insistently before changing to a steady shriek indicating a missile had had locked onto their aircraft. "Break right!" Exclaimed the WSO and both aircraft broke formation. The missile streaked between the two planes, flying onward into parts unknown.

"Strike, Tiger Five Two, we have been engaged!" The pilot exclaimed, surprised at actually having a missile fired at him.

"_Roger Five Two, what's your position? Over_," replied the controller, also seemingly surprised at what just happened.

"Zero four zero at three hundred fifty miles!" Replied Tiger Five Two as he brought his aircraft around. The two now confirmed bandits were AV-8B Harrier II jump jets, as was visible from their large intakes and slanted wings. Tiger Five Two turned hard right and brought his aircraft around so it faced the attacking aircraft. "Five Four, engage bandit at right, I'll take left," said the pilot of five two.

"Roger, tally ho on the bandit," replied Five Four as he turned out and went to engage the aircraft closest to him. The F-15E slowed airspeed and began to turn in behind the Harrier in an attempt to obtain a better angle of attack. The pilot switched over from his AMRAAM missiles to Sidewinders, tracking until the piper in the HUD lined up on the target. The beeping was replaced with a constant tone indicating a solid lock as the piper turned red. "I've got tone. Tiger Five Four, fox one," said the pilot as he pressed the trigger on the stick. In a flash, a white contrail snaked out from the left wing spar of the F-15E and shirked right, intent upon its kill. The Harrier pilot began to pop flares and chaff, but the Sidewinder missile shot through the countermeasures and found its mark. The aircraft exploded in a huge fireball, the wings, tail and cockpit sections falling away. The placement of the Harriers engine was in the center of the fuselage, rather than the tail, so when heat seeking missiles tracked it, the aircraft was immediately destroyed. The pilot and WSO of Tiger Five Four saw no ejection seat from the cockpit as they watched it fall to Earth. "Tiger Five Four, splash one," said the pilot into his mask. He banked the F-15E hard left and saw his flight lead chasing the other Harrier towards one of the mountains.

"Roger Five Four, Tiger Five Two, fox one," replied the other pilot. Five Four watched as an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile shot out from under his flight lead's aircraft and streak towards the jump jet. The Harrier pulled up hard and to the right, slowing its airspeed to the point of almost stalling, but it was not enough. The pilot must have realized this because there was a brief puff of light from the cockpit just before the missile hit, and the small speck soon deployed a parachute as it fell to Earth. "Tiger Five Two, splash two, engaging remaining bandits," said the voice of the victorious pilot.

"_Roger Tiger flight, advise, blue forces inbound to your location, ETA, twenty minutes_," came the voice of Strike.

"Affirmative, Strike, Tiger Flight acknowledges. Tally ho on remaining bandits," replied the pilot of Tiger five two. Both aircraft now switched over to their remaining air-to-air missiles and locked up as many helicopters as they could. They seemed to be surrounding a crash site of some sort.

...

Robin held his bird-a-rangs in hand, ready to let them go once the bullets started flying. Cyborg and Starfire were primed and ready for battle, and Beast Boy was going to give his all in the event things turned south. Robin watched with baited breath as the ground team disgorged by the Huey helicopters continued to move up to their position. He did not want to attack until the last possible moment. He looked up to see the Cobra attack helicopters still hovering, guns trained, waiting for the Titans to begin their counter attack.

It surprised him, and the others, when suddenly the two Cobra gunships covering the Huey troops exploded in a succession of spectacular fireballs. The two Huey pilots, suddenly realizing their defensive air cover was gone, immediately tried to take off, but in their haste, followed each other too closely. The rotor blades of the aft chopper clipped the ones in the lead, causing a catastrophic crash that sent one of the choppers spinning about wildly over the Titans heads, crashing behind the wrecked T-Ship, exploding in a fireball. The other careened into the contingent of troops, killing them instantly. Robin looked behind him to see the other three Cobra helicopters turn to face whatever had killed the first two, only to see two of them explode in short order. The last remaining chopper then turned a full 180 degrees and flew the other direction, apparently deciding that the Titans were not worth its life. Robin watched the chopper as it flew away from the area, until he lost sight of it behind the tree line. Just as it disappeared behind the line, a missile shot through they sky, the resounding explosion indicating it hit its mark.

"Yo Robin, check it out," said Cyborg, catching Robin's attention. The Boy Wonder turned to see two dark gray jets heading his direction. The pilot of the lead aircraft waved his wings up and down, signaling that they were aware someone was on the ground. As they flew overhead, Cyborg opened his wrist comlink and attempted to get in touch with the pilots.

"Unidentified jets, this is Cyborg of the Teen Titans, do you read me?" He asked into his arm.

"Dude, you gotta say over!" Replied Beast Boy. Cyborg gave him a look but then thought better of it.

"Over," he added. The static cleared.

"_Cyborg, this is Tiger Five Two, lead aircraft of Tiger flight, three ninety first fighter squadron, US Air Force. What is your condition, over_?" Replied the pilot.

"See, I told you so!" Said Beast Boy, content with himself. Cyborg ignored him.

"Tiger Five Two, thanks for the help, we needed it. Any chance we could hop a ride back to the facility? Our ride is kinda out of commission," asked Cyborg.

"Cyborg!" Yelled Beast Boy.

"Over," added Cyborg, albeit begrudgingly.

"_Negative Cyborg, we're unable to land. We have been instructed to proceed in concurrence with our orders, over_," replied the pilot.

"Which are?" Asked Cyborg, using his other hand to preempt any response from Garfield.

"_Destroy the target building_," replied the pilot. Cyborg was unsure of what to say, so Beat Boy stepped up without hesitation.

"Roger, Tiger Five Two. We can escort you to the facility, but be advised, there are friendlies inside the building, repeat, there are friendlies inside the building. We can alert you once they have been evacuated. Over," said Beast Boy. Cyborg looked at him perplexed, as did Robin and Starfire. Beast Boy did not seem care though, he just hoped all those hours spent playing _Combat Ace 5: Shattered Skies_ would pay off.

"_Understood, Cyborg. We will follow you to the facility and await notification, be advised, we are approaching bingo fuel, over_," replied the pilot. No one else seemed to comprehend what was going on, but Garfield was on top of it.

"Roger Tiger Five Two, understood. Let us know how much time you have, over," he replied.

"_Affirmative. Tiger Five Two, out_," said the pilot before the transmission cut out. Cyborg looked on at the little green kid.

"Mind telling me what he just said?" He asked.

"Bingo fuel is the point where they won't have enough fuel to be able to go back to base," said Beast Boy, matter-of-factly.

"So, what does that mean?" Asked Starfire.

"It means we need to get over there now, before they have to drop their ordinance on the facility," replied Robin. He turned to Starfire, who reached out a hand to her leader and friend. Garfield took his form of pterodactyl and grasped Cyborg by the shoulders. As they flew, the F-15Es of Tiger Flight circled them, their bombs and missiles resembled the talons on a bird of prey, ready to strike. Robin hoped they could get there before they did.

...

Batman entered the control room to see Deckard on the floor, slumped up against the control console. At first it was hard to see what he was doing there, but the dark pool of blood around him suddenly made it very apparent. The Dark Knight ran over to the fallen FBI agent, who was in bad shape.

"Get…out," he said just above a whisper. The color had faded from his face and his eyes look sunken, almost grey.

"I'm getting you out of here," said Batman, as he knelt down in front of Rick. He pulled out a small field dressing and a piece of plastic to try and stop the bleeding. The plastic would create a vacuum and hopefully seal the sucking chest wound. It was apparent that Deckard had a collapsed lung, as there was a small trickle of blood coming out from his mouth. His teeth were stained red and his breathing was labored.

"Bose…," said Deckard. Batman seemed to ignore him.

"Don't talk, save your strength," he replied.

"No…Bose," said Deckard again. Batman suddenly realized Deckard meant Bose had done this to him and very likely was still in the room. As if to confirm his presence, the sound of a pistol hammer being cocked confirmed this.

"If you'll just stay right there, Batman, this will be over with in just a second," said Adrian Bose as he stepped out into the faint light of the command center. Batman looked down to see Deckard wink at him, then slowly show him his HK 45 pistol in his right hand. He had been laying on his right side in an attempt to keep the blood from pooling in his left lung, which concealed the weapon from Bose. Batman gave a subtle nod to Rick before rising, slowly, with his hands in the air.

"Did you really think that this was going to work, Bose?" Asked the Dark Knight. Bose seemed to relish the question.

"In all honesty, yes, I did, I thought that the world would be rid of people like you once this thing got into full swing. Never thought I'd have to contend with the likes of a lowly FBI agent like him," he said with a sneer as he looked over at Deckard. Batman turned around, slowly, his arms still raised.

"Where did you get the money for this?" He asked.

"I stole most of it, but a lot of it came from other terrorists. I got tired of simply being a financier and wanted to start being a part of the action. Everyone else was into bombings and kidnappings, small scale stuff, but me, no, I wanted to do something big," he said with a smile.

"So you opted to go after us," said Batman, taking a small step to his left. Bose involuntarily took a step to his left, mirroring the action. Batman took another step, and Bose followed.

"Not just you, everything that comes with you, the villains, the corruption, the tainted perception of justice the American people and the world see when they witness you all running around without consequences," said Bose, becoming more visibly agitated. Batman continued to walk to his left, slowly sidestepping as he did so. Bose, unwittingly, was copying his every move.

"You really think we're that big of a problem?" Asked Batman, as close to sincerely as he could get.

"You really think I would build a super max prison with special accommodations just for people like you if I didn't think you were a problem?" Answered Bose with his own question. Batman now stopped sidestepping, as did Bose, who now had his back directly to Deckard.

"I guess not," replied Batman, who now dropped his hands to his sides. Bose sneered and leveled the pistol at Batmans head.

"I honestly thought you were going to try and stop me," he said as his finger reached for the trigger. The shot that rang out echoed through the room and down the hallway. Bose stood for about a second before he fell to his knees, his arm with the pistol falling to his side. He looked down to see his white dress shirt begin to turn bright red. He glanced over his shoulder to see Deckard propping his right arm up with his left hand, holding a pistol. Bose seemed to not believe what had just happened until he looked down at his chest again, the shirt becoming soaked with blood. In a final act of desperation, coupled with adrenaline fueled muscles, Bose brought the pistol he was holding around so as to try to finish Deckard off.

He was too slow.

Rick fired again. The bullet caught the man just above his right eye, snapping his head backwards and dropping him to the floor. The 165 grain full-metal jacket hollow-point .45 caliber round made short work of Boses' grey matter, small pieces of which could be seen on the opposite wall. Blood began to flow like Niagara from the wound, covering his face in red. Deckard, at this point exhausted beyond measure, dropped his own pistol the floor. "Should have killed me earlier…you son of a bitch," he said between breaths. Batman rushed over to him and helped him up, the blood staining his boots and cape.

"Come on, let's go Deckard," he said as he helped the wounded Deckard up and out of the control room. As they passed the body, Deckard could only hope that whatever version of hell Adrian Bose believed in was where he was now, and would forever remain.

...

The villains had been corralled against the far wall. The guards had been placed against the opposite wall, though they were hog-tied and stripped of all equipment and weapons. The JL and their nemeses had actually formed a loose alliance in order to combat the guards, and once they had done so, it had ended. The villains were ready to leave ten minutes ago, but the JL was not going to leave until Batman arrived with Agent Deckard. Raven could only hope that it would be soon, she was beginning to worry.

Suddenly, her communicator went off. "Yes," she asked.

"_Raven, its Robin. Is everyone ready to go?_" He asked somewhat impatiently. Huntress walked up behind the Titan to see what was going on.

"No, we're still waiting-"

"_You have to get out_, now. _The Air Force is coming to destroy the facility. You guys have no time left. You need to get out, now!_" Exclaimed Robin, turning his attention away from the communicator, obviously trying to get a handle on the situation.

"Batman and Rick aren't back yet," she replied. Her concern for Deckard was beginning to show through, but at this point she had stopped caring.

"_Raven, you_ have _to leave. Batman can take care of himself, trust me. He and Deckard will be fine, but you need to get out, fast,_" said Robin.

"He's right Raven, we've waited enough," chimed Huntress from behind. Raven felt the womans hand on her shoulder, though any comfort it was supposed to bring was not noticed. She looked as Robin turned away from the communicator again before refocusing his attention on her.

"_Raven, the jets are inbound. You're out of time,_" he said. Raven closed her eyes and swore she could feel tears well up in them.

"I understand," she said, just above a whisper. The image of Robin blacked out and she closed her communicator. She turned to face Huntress, who removed her hand from Ravens' shoulder. Slowly Raven levitated in the air, her cowl waving behind her. She opened her eyes, awash with white, and crossed her arms in front of her, palms out. She began to radiate a black aura, which slowly encompassed the entire room and all inside. The sphere enveloped the whole room and eventually every person within it. In a flash, the room was empty, leaving no sign of any individuals who had been present.

Luna Sol now only had two prisoners remaining in its walls.

...

Tiger Five Four slipped in behind his flight lead as the WSO pulled up the pertinent targeting data from Strike. The JDAM munitions varied in size but were all satellite guided and accurate to within a few feet of where they were aimed. These munitions, along with the GBU-28 laser-guided bomb refitted to the BLU-113 Super Penetrator "bunker buster" bombs, were going to be used to destroy the Luna Sol facility. The JDAM weapons would be dropped on the above ground facilities while the BLU-113 would be dropped down the elevator shaft to destroy the main underground facilities. In theory, it was hoped; the bomb would cause a cave in and destroy the holding facilities, though this was not by any means plausible. The four BLU-113s delivered by the two Strike Eagles would cause damage regardless; the extent of it was just unknown.

"Tiger Five Two, Tiger Five Four, weapons are hot at this time," said the WSO of the trailing F-15E.

"Roger Five Four. Strike, this is Tiger Five Two, confirm we are go for delivery, over," said Tiger Five Two into his oxygen mask.

"_Weapons delivery is authenticated, Five Two, you are clear to destroy the target, over_," replied Strike. That was it, there was no other confirmation needed from any authorities up the chain-of-command.

"Tiger Five Two, Cyborg, are you receiving me, over?" Asked the pilot. There was a brief bit of static before the reply came back.

"_I read you Tiger Five Two. What'cha got_?" Said the crackled voice in response.

"Are all friendlies out of the area? We are two minutes from bingo fuel and are about to put lead down, over," asked the pilot. There was about ten seconds of static before Cyborg answered.

"_Affirmative, Tiger Five Two. All friendlies are out of the building_," said Cyborg in an almost deadpan voice.

"Roger that. Tiger Five Four, come to angels ten at two seven zero, maintain three hundred. Tally ho on the target," said the pilot. He banked right and climbed in altitude, with his trailer now increasing the distance between them.

"Copy, Five Two, let's finish this," replied the other pilot. Both aircraft climbed into the clouds, circled around and set up six miles from the target. The JDAMs and "bunker busters" were armed. They would make only one pass.

...

Batman staggered into the Luna Cell Block, only to find it deserted. There was no one to be found, not even evidence that anyone was here. He wondered if he had come to the right place.

"Gone…" said Deckard, who had curled into the fetal position on the floor. His blood soaked uniform was leaving marks on the linoleum, a sign that he was still bleeding. The amount had declined drastically, and the color of Rick's skin had become a pale grayish since their departure from the control room.

"Why would they leave?" Asked Batman, somewhat perplexed.

"Air…strike…coming. Destroy…this place," said Deckard. His breathing was even shallower now than it was before, and the taste of blood in his mouth was still there. He could feel the air in his lungs escape through the wound, causing the blood around it to bubble into a froth that was not pleasant to look at for anyone, himself included.

"You called in an air strike?" Asked Batman, now it seemed with a heightened sense of what was about to happen.

"Had…to…ensure its...destruction," replied Deckard. He held his chest tightly now, trying to do anything he could to lessen the pain. He tried to tell himself there was none, but the amount of it was just too much. He began to concentrate as hard as he could. He knew he could not leave Batman down here to die. _Raven_ he thought, _hear me…Raven_.

...

On the surface, Raven looked on as the JL began to take care of their own, with the help of the other Titans. The teleportation she had just done had made her feel weak, almost too where she could not do it again. Never had she transported that many people such a distance before, and the amount of concentration and power it took was more than she ever felt she could do. Nevertheless, she had done it and saved the lives of all the members of the JL. Now, she was looking for Batman and Rick when suddenly she felt something, a presence of sorts, which she had not felt before. It seemed to be calling her. Slowly she closed her eyes and tried to focus in on it.

_Raven…it's me. Help us_ it said. Suddenly Raven snapped out of her trance, and immediately sank into the ground in a black cloud.

...

"Tiger Five Two, inbound on approach, weapons are armed, target acquired, status pinged," said the pilot into his mask. The WSO now gave complete control of his weapons to the pilot for release. "Standby for release," said the pilot again. Luna Sol came into view; the small circular reticule at the bottom of the sight line now was directly over top of the main building. The small indicators around it were for the JDAM points of impact. As the facility grew closer, the pilot of Tiger Five Two thumbed the weapons release button.

"Pickle," said the pilot, indicating he had released his munitions.

"Pickle," repeated the pilot of Five Four, who released his weapons about a second after. Both aircraft now began a shallow turn to the left to observe the weapons impact which would be in about 30 seconds.

...

Raven materialized in Cell Block Luna to see Batman kneeling over something. As she approached, her heart jumped into her throat. Deckard was in a bad way, looking pale and in pain. Batman turned to see the young Titan approach.

"Get us out of here," he said. Without a word Raven enacted another sphere, encompassing them all, and flashed them to the surface. They had seven seconds to spare.

...

The first set of JDAMs hit their mark, destroying the motor pool and living quarters. The "bunker busters" penetrated through the main building and down the elevator shaft in rapid succession, with the second set of JDAM vaporizing the main building shortly thereafter.

"Shack on the target," said Tiger Five Four. Suddenly the Earth began to disappear, sinking into the ground as the large holding cells beneath the ground collapsed. The Luna Sol facility had caved in on itself.

"Strike, Tiger Five Two, weapons delivered, we are thirty seconds from bingo fuel, over" said the pilot.

"_Roger Tiger Flight, maintain course heading of two two zero to RTB, advise boots are on the ground, over_," replied Strike.

"Wilco, Strike, Tiger Flight is headed home," replied the flight lead. Both aircraft rolled ninety degrees and pulled right, tearing through the sky towards home.

...

Raven, Batman and Rick appeared on the surface amidst a plethora of superhumans, US Army troops and agents from various law enforcement agencies. CH-46 Chinook helicopters landed to deploy infantry and small mechanized vehicles. Several UH-60 Black Hawks and AH-64 Apaches provided aerial support and defensive cover while law enforcement agents began interviewing various members of the JL. The scene was chaotic at best.

"Medic!" Yelled Batman at the top of his lungs. He stood up and began to look for anyone who could provide first aid. Raven half knelt, half collapsed next to Rick. She was weak, weaker than she though she could ever be. She placed a hand on him and tried to summon her healing power, but nothing emanated from her hands. All she could feel was the now cold blood on the uniform. "Medic!" Yelled Batman again. An Army soldier looked over at him and ran towards him, pulling out his kit bag as he dropped next to Deckard.

"What's his status?" Asked the corpsman.

"Single GSW to left upper torso, entry and exit present, he's lost a lot of blood," said Batman, leaning down on the opposite side.

"Starting an IV drip, how much blood?" Asked the corpsman.

"I don't know," replied Batman, pulling a field dressing out of the medic's kit bag to try and stop what little bleeding there was. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his wrist.

"Thank…you…," mouthed Deckard. Batman looked on somewhat confused, until he realized what was happening. He turned and looked over at the group of founding members.

"Superman!" He yelled. The Man of Steel looked over in his direction and then ran to his friend, not knowing what he needed. "Use your vision, tell us what you can see," said Batman. Superman simply stared at the man on the ground, the left portion of his chest utterly torn apart by the bullet that had hit him. Clark could tell it was worse than either Batman or the medic thought. He leaned down, kneeling between the two of them.

"His lung is collapsed and he's lost most of his blood. Some of his internal organs have shut down…I, I don't think we can do anything for him," he said.

"You aren't…the only one with…super hearing…Superman," said Deckard as he looked up. Raven went to cradle his head as he did so, the blood from his uniform dried onto her fingers. "It's…alright. I'll…be OK," Rick said as he looked up to the sky, the dark storm clouds overhead growing larger. Then, he turned to Raven, her eyes now welling with tears she never thought she would shed.

"Rick, no…" she said. Deckard simply smiled.

"It's alright…we saved them," he replied.

"Rick, I…I…" she stammered. Deckard reached up with his good arm and wiped away the tears.

"I know…I feel the same…way," he said. Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Starfire had run though the gambit to find their friend and fellow Titan kneeling next to Batman, Superman and an Army medic, with Deckard on the ground. Robin began to approach but Cyborg put up his arm and stopped him, looking at him as he did so.

Raven held Deckards' hand and stared into his eyes for as long as he could keep them open. After what seemed like only a few seconds, he exhaled a small, final breath before he closed his eyes and his grip loosened up. Raven then closed her eyes, his hand still in hers, and wept. Batman and Superman stood up, each with their head down, at a total loss for words. Slowly, the members of the Justice League and Teen Titans gathered around the body of a man that most of them had never met. They all bowed their heads in solace, each knowing that they were only here because of this mans actions.

Thunder rolled in the distance, and it began to rain where the group stood. It was as if the Earth wanted to wash away all that had taken place here, to erase all evidence of the injustice and maltreatment against those who swore to protect the planet. It was as if this moment was to be lost in time, like tears in rain.


	30. Chapter 30

Teen Titans (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Justice League (Copyright) DC Comics/Cartoon Network  
Batman (Copyright) Bob Kane/DC Comics/Warner Bros.  
Rick Deckard (Copyright) Ridley Scott/Ladd Co. Films  
Story (Copyright) ~SonicHdgHog

CHAPTER 30 – REPRISE

1417hrs EST, Friday, 27 June  
Gotham City – Gotham Cemetery

The 21 guns discharged, their hollow echo resounding throughout the grounds. Despite the torrential rain, everyone from the Justice League, the Titans, half of the Gotham City Police Department, the entire FBI Field Office in Gotham and the Director of the FBI were present for the funeral. Most stood outside, not caring about the water as it came down in buckets. Those lucky few who were inside the covered awning did not feel like they were lucky, instead they felt empty, somber. There was no word to describe the hole that had been torn in them, nor was there an easy explanation. SOLAR had been stopped, the Luna Sol facility destroyed, Adrian Bose killed and all of his financial records and list of terrorist friends utilized to apprehend more than two dozen individuals deemed threats to the United States. So why did it all seem like a hollow victory?

The Titans struggled with that question the entire way back to Jump City. No one said a word on the flight back from Gotham, not even Garfield. When the newly repaired T-Ship finally landed at Titans Tower, they each went their separate ways. Robin opted to go through all that was uncovered about SOLAR and review it in detail to try and understand the full scope of what had been unleashed upon the superhuman community. Cyborg opted to go to the gym and release his pent up anger and frustration by lifting weights. Starfire decided to take a flight around the Bay, hoping to clear her mind. Beast Boy took up his position on the couch, staring at the TV, but not having the will to turn it on. Raven had disappeared into her room, sequestering herself away from all things she thought would remind her of Deckard. She lay on her bed, face down, trying to hide her tears from no one. As she balled up a fist and hit one of her pillows, she felt something come out from underneath it. She looked up to see a necklace of some sort, with something attached to it. She sat up and pulled it out from under the pillow; it was a key, a handcuff key. She stared at it for a long time before placing it in her other hand, examining it curiously. Suddenly, the alarm began to go off. Warning klaxons blared and she closed her eyes, half angered and half relieved. Then a knock came from her door.

"Raven, let's go!" Came the voice of Robin. Raven slid off her bed and looked at her hand, still holding the necklace. She clenched her fist before pulling it out and slipping it over her head, the key dangling just above her chest. Then she pulled up her hood and ran to the door, ready to take on whatever threat lay beyond it.

THE END


End file.
